James Duddridge, Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East, has welcomed a government announcement that Southend on Sea will be receiving an additional £2.2 million to help with pressures on local social services.
As part of the Budget the government has allocated a £650 million boost to Social Care for 2019-20. This includes £410 million for adults and children’s social care and £240 million of additional funding to help councils alleviate winter pressures on the NHS.
Southend-on-Sea is expected to receive £2,231,667 of this funding to support its local social services whilst Essex County Council is expected to receive £16,031,963.
After receiving the news, James said,
"I am pleased that central government has recognised the need to ensure that our Social Care Services are well funded and are granting our area such a large amount of money to invest."
"Winter is always a hard time for our NHS and I am pleased that more is being done to help councils alleviate the pressures on our service.."
Tony Cox, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Adult Social Care for Southend Borough Council said,
"It is excellent that the Government have granted us this additional funding. This will not only ensure that we have the resources to improve the services we currently offer in the town but also to put us in a strong position to alleviate the pressures put on the NHS during the winter months."