31 October 2010 Last updated at 12:30 ET

Councils' body says cuts threaten home care for elderly

The LGA says people with dementia, Parkinson's and diabetes face losing support in their homes

"Virtually all" councils in England and Wales could be forced to end home help for elderly and disabled people, the Local Government Association has said.

The LGA, which represents 422 authorities, has warned MPs budget cuts may result in services being restricted to those with "critical" needs.

A £3bn funding shortfall could affect people with dementia, Parkinson's disease and diabetes, it said.

Care Services Minister Paul Burstow said it was "wrong to scare people".

But shadow health minister John Healey said: "This shows you cannot make big budget cuts without big consequences".

The LGA's warning to MPs came in a written submission.

A LGA spokesman told the BBC that "virtually all" councils would be affected.

"We have been worried about this for some time. If you take 28% out of council budgets, you are bound to limit councils' ability to provide these services.

"In large parts of the country this will mean the end to home help," he said.

The LGA has also warned that "demographic pressures combined with the complex nature of care and support" means that the amount of cuts would be considerably higher than the figures alone suggest.

Mr Burstow said the coalition government had prioritised social care.

"It is wrong to scare people about 'cuts' in social care," he stressed.

"The Spending Review announced significant extra funding for social care for each of the next four years, increasing to an extra £2bn of investment in 2014/15," he said.

BBC News website readers have been sending us their reaction to this story. Here is a selection of their comments.

Oh great - my sister and I have just fought for 3½ years to get physical help for our brother who wants to stay in his own home instead of going into expensive local authority care and now the care we have fought for will be whipped away! He falls into one of those groups where although he can be a danger to himself by self neglect due to mental illness, he is not considered ill enough to justify the care he needs. We can't fund it and neither of us can help either, due to the fact that we live quite a long way away and also have our own caring responsibilities. As I said - oh great...

Irene, Birmingham, England

I am a domicillary carer and the cuts have started already with 1/2 hour taken off here and there. Cutting down care for people while increasing overseas aid is unbelievable.

Sam, Darwen, Lancs

We simply cannot, numerically, continue to expect the public purse to care for us into our eighties, nineties and beyond... We are all now living much longer but inevitably this increases our fragility - we should begin to get real and financially plan for this. Many would provide care services - at a commercial rate and we should not expect the taxpayer to fund it. People moan about their council tax but seem cerebrally unable - or unwilling - to appreciate the huge demands placed upon the public purse through the social services budgets of County Councils.

D Phillips, United Kingdom

My mother was diagnose with dementia in 2000. I had to fight to get home help to assist in her care. I was told by a doctor that there were no places in a care home for her and she was best to have care at home. So the home care, as well as help from the Dementia care trust, was invaluable to my mother, myself and my brother, who were living with her. It also gave assurance to my other brother, sister and my mothers relations and friends. I am sure my mother benefitted staying in her own home, with familiar surroundings and family members around. So I believe these home care services are a must and a human right of people who are in need of care and support.

Bry Ford, Bristol

We are all in this together so Mr Cameron continually tells us. We must all bear the share of the cuts, yet do I see the MPs stating that they will take a cut in their expenses, will all their travel to and from parliament come from their salary as is the case of employees in industry within London, they should just get the London waiting allowance and no more. Is there something behind the cuts to reduce the population above a certain age by withdrawing services from them and in doing so make the weak and feeble vulnerable? They are quick enough to state it is because of the deficit that these cuts HAVE to be made.

Cliff Blaken, Chepstow, Monmouthshire

Callous, indifferent, uncaring. If only one elderly person dies, or one child, or one infirm or mentally ill patient is harmed as a result, it is too much of a price to pay for the banking crisis. Not in my name, I say. Are the LibDems mad for supporting such drastic savage cuts on the vulnerable. They've got a warped view of fairness.

Diane Hain, Bath

My mother was kept alive and independent with four hours of home help a week until she died at the age of 94. Having just that little allowed her to live independently and not go into an old peoples home. She had been an ophan and from aged two to 17 had lived in a children's home. She hated the threat of going back into a home. It is evil what they are doing... all for their friends the bankers. That is evil. There is no other word to describe their actions.

Peter Gorbach, Hove

I am very alarmed by the recent suggestion that cuts will affect people with Parkinson's Disease. I currently care for an 84-year-old male who is in the latter stages of this horrendous disorder. This gentleman needs 24/7 care provision otherwise his health and welfare will be at peril. Have the government forgotten that our elderly have paid taxes all of their lives? The gentleman in question joined the Royal Navy at 14 of age, worked for the civil service and taught in a secondary school up until his retirement. A message to the policy makers of this country: You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Ang (carer for man with Parkinson's), E Sussex

D Phillips, you talk about how wrong it is for any of us to expect the 'public purse' to fund our old age, debility etc. Where do you think the 'public purse' comes from? If someone works all their lives and pays tax and national insurance, then they have financially made provision for their old age and their needs. Certainly that's what I've been paying out on my money for all these years, plus education, health, benefits... I never expected it to be used to bail out greedy, speculative banks and bankers.

Cat, London, UK

My care trust did away with home helps long ago so I'm surprised to hear they exist in other parts of the country. I use a personal budget supplied by the LA to pay for my care but housework help must be purchased seperately, from my own funds and not from the personal budget. Sadly the truth is most LA's simply cannot afford to offer help for anything but critical care. All this talk about more cuts in conjunction with changes to the benefits system is worrying for people like me who rely on it. I feel like I am, as a disabled person, being demonised by some sections of the media with encouragement from the government. I feel very vulnerable.

Amanda Thwaites, Morpeth