AN £820,000 increase in social services spending in York has been announced by the city's Labour group.

It is to be added to the £27.5 million budgeted for social services last year, and much of it will be spent on helping the city's elderly people to live independently at home.

But Liberal Democrats said today certain areas of City of York Council's social services still faced cuts. They include:

Customers attending day care which is not covered by council transport would pay their own taxi costs, formerly covered by the authority. Attending day care in nursing homes is excepted. The cut is planned to save £20,000

The council plans to save £17,500 by introducing Sunday closing of Clarence Street day centre for people with mental health problems

An occupational therapist post will be re-designated as a basic day care officer

Financial assistance for recuperative holidays for people relying on care, and their carers, would be scrapped, saving £4,900

£44,000 would be saved by shedding the jobs of two social workers.

The Liberal Democrats also claimed the city was facing a council tax rise of up to seven per cent.

Councillor Bob Fletcher, the council's Executive member for social services, said today: "We have found a series of acceptable savings and efficiency measures which makes this extra money available.

"There are no significant cuts and I don't foresee any protests of the size and emotional level of last year."

Labour councillors were last year faced with protests following proposals, including replacing cooks in elderly people's homes with pre-cooked food, charging tourists to visit the city's art gallery, cutting city street cleaning and closing the York Story.

Councillor Fletcher said today he was unable to speak in detail about the proposals until February 15, when the council would vote on them.

But Councillor Sue Galloway, the Liberal Democrat's spokeswoman for social services, asked the Labour group to make it clear where the extra money was coming from.

She said: "There is nothing in the budget papers that we have seen that suggests this. I would like to know where they are proposing to magic £820,000 from?

"The Labour council leadership has a lot of explaining to do to residents and, on the basis of today's announcement, it perhaps also needs to be more frank."

The extra cash was announced to residents of Oliver House residential home, in Bishophill Junior, by city MP Hugh Bayley and Labour's Bishophill by-election candidate David Evans.

Bed-blocking caused by elderly people using hospital beds as they wait to be moved to residential and nursing homes will not have money budgeted for it.

The Bishophill by-election, held on February 22, will also be contested by Liberal Democrat Martin Bartlett, Conservative Bill Bennett and Green Party candidate Andy Chase.

Updated: 13:01 Saturday, January 27, 2001