Perthshire’s rapidly ageing population could prove a financial time bomb for the region’s cash-strapped local authority.
Faced with the urgent need to slash £53 million from its budget, it has emerged that spending on care for the elderly and treatment of people with age-related mental ill health has rocketed in recent years.
The sum is now climbing by more than £1m a year, to become one of the biggest monetary challenges faced by Perth and Kinross Council.
The number of residents aged 75 and above is now said to be growing at a faster pace than anywhere else in the country.
The issue is particularly acute in Highland Perthshire communities such as Pitlochry, which boasts a pensioner population around twice the national average.
Bankrolling the increased services needed to support that population is, however, directly at odds with the “years of austerity” ahead.
In October, The Courier reported savage spending cuts were required between now and 2020, despite the region’s well-earned reputation for fiscal responsibility.
The £53m sum is considered a mid-range scenario and the cuts could be greater, although council leader Ian Miller has shuddered to even consider that “worst-case scenario”.
It is against that background that chief social work officer Bill Atkinson will unveil his annual report on Wednesday.
In it, he admits that social work services are facing “the biggest change for a generation”.
Mr Atkinson said the key challenge was to maintain progress amid a climate of new legislation, increasing demand for many services and higher individual and community expectations of social work services in an environment where there is staggering pressure on public finances.
“In Perth and Kinross, there is a particular challenge with the +75 population growing at a faster pace than the rest of Scotland,” said Mr Atkinson.
“This is putting considerable pressure on our budgets for residential, nursing care and care at home services.
“In relation to people with a learning disability, we are seeing more and more individuals with multiple and complex needs.
“These people are living longer and therefore requiring more intensive and costly services to sustain them in appropriate care settings.
“There are also growing trends in the number of people who are affected by mental ill-health and drug and alcohol misuse problems, therefore, pressures in these areas are increasing.
“In children and families’ services too, the financial implications of new legislation are still being fully costed, particularly around additional duties to young adults who have been looked after as children in the context of increasing numbers which represents one of our main cost pressures.”
The report reveals that expenditure on community care and criminal justice services has increased by £3.37m over the past three financial years, from £49.59m to £52.96m.
Over the same period, the council has increased spending on children and families services by £1.9m, from £16.242m to £18.152m.
The annual report highlights significant savings have been made in multiple areas and identifies some sector-leading projects, with successes in looking after the increasing number of children and young people in need of looking after, a forward-thinking drug and alcohol team, pro-active safer communities team and in the form of the OWLS (One-Stop Women’s Learning) scheme, which has improved the often chaotic lives of women offenders.
Ahead of tomorrow’s meeting, Mr Miller said: “These services play an essential role in society, promoting social justice, supporting vulnerable people, protecting children and adults at risk and safeguarding people’s wellbeing.
“There are several important challenges facing the service and as it continues to experience rising public demand and higher expectations from service users, together with the need to respond to changes in national legislation.
“It is a tribute to our staff that they have responded positively to these demands.
“As the chief social work officer’s report highlights, the future will continue to bring challenges for services, but I believe our dedicated workforce will rise to meet those head on.”