PEOPLE in Lancashire paid out more than £5m more for community care services last year than they did the year before, according to figures released today by the Labour Party.

Lancashire County Council increased their charges by 1.6 per cent during 1993/94, creating an extra £5,250,000 in revenue. The charges now make up 11.1 per cent of their total social services spending.

The figures have been released by Labour's shadow community care minister Alan Milburn. He claims cash-strapped councils are being forced to introduce higher charges on vulnerable people in order to balance their books and protect the community care services they provide.

Mr Milburn said: "Pressure on community care budgets is forcing more councils to charge more for more services. Under the Conservatives people are paying more to get less."

"Many vulnerable people will find themselves priced out of care altogether if these trends are allowed to continue.

The figures show huge variations in the amount local authorities are charging to raise the cash. Buckinghamshire charges 18.4 per cent, the highest in the country, while Waltham Forest, in London, is the lowest, with only 1.4 per cent of their social services budget being raised through charges imposed on users.

The 11 per cent raised by Lancashire County Council is about average across the country.

Speaking about the regional variations, Mr Milburn added: "By creating incentives to charge but refusing to offer clear guidelines to councils on charging policies, the Government has invented a charter for confusion. The care a person gets and the price they pay should not depend on where they live."

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