A section 114 notice means no new expenditure is permitted, ‘with the exception of protecting vulnerable people and maintaining statutory services.’ At least 26 councils in some of Britain’s most deprived areas are at risk of effective bankruptcy, it was revealed last week.
Helen Rowlands, campaigner with Cheshire Disabled People Against Cuts, recently uncovered high levels of social care charging debt and recovery actions in Birmingham, which you can read in Disability News Service's article on the matter. It was revealed that Birmingham City Council was referring Disabled people to debt collection agencies more than 3,000 times a year for failing to pay adult social care charges. Helen's reporting illustrates deeply how local authority underfunding plays out disasterously for Disabled residents with statutory care needs - we know this bankruptcy will have to be shouldered most strenuously by Disabled and marginalised people in Birmingham.
Mikey Erhardt, Campaigner at DR UK said:
"The services that Local Authorities like Birmingham City Council provide, be it social care, housing or education, are absolutely vital to enable Disabled children and adults to live our lives. The situation for far too many Disabled people is already appalling, with additional support at home or at school not being provided and with our homes being inaccessible and unaffordable. The current cross-party political consensus on cuts means that budget blackholes will only lead down one route: service reductions. These will be devastating for millions of Disabled people across the country, resulting in even lower levels of support and failure to tackle societal barriers, further impoverishing our lives.
We all have the right to live in an inclusive society where everyone has a fulfilling life and feels connected and valued. We know our lives are not valued equally to others, and more service reductions will cut us off from our communities, keep us trapped in dangerous homes, prevent us from getting the care and support we need, and ultimately may cut many of our lives short, all in service of a spreadsheet somewhere in Westminster.
Immediate support is needed to stabilise our local authority system to prevent the devastation that may be caused to the poorest people in society, many of whom are Disabled. The latest figures suggest that, on average, Disabled households need an additional £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households. Far too many of us can’t make ends meet as it is. We all know the effect that more cuts will have. How many more times must we go down this road?
The people of Birmingham deserve better, and the current consensus on cuts needs to change; we want the government to accept that dismantling fundamental societal barriers we face requires significant investment. Good public services are not a drain on the budget; they are an investment in everyone’s quality of life. We need a long-term Disability Strategy, co-produced with Disabled people and our organisations, that tackles the root causes of our oppression and delivers fundamental reform and investment to enable Disabled people of all ages, genders and backgrounds to thrive."