Council leaders in Plymouth are facing a gap of nearly £6m in their social care budget in 2018 after council tax rises failed to fill the gaps.

This year, the Government allowed local authorities to increase council tax by two per cent to spend on care. For Plymouth, this allowed an extra £1.8million.

The cost of paying social care staff the new National Living Wage equates to £2.2million.

Plymouth Council expect the increased demand for social care will add a further £5.4million to 2018’s bill, leaving a £5.8million shortfall in a £70million social care budget.

Town hall chiefs warned new cuts would be made following a survey of all 151 social care directors in England revealed a shortfall of nearly £1billion.

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services said councils had no option but to reduce the services.

Care directors suggested only half of this shortfall (£2.4million) could be met by efficiency savings.

They said 39% of the shortfall would have to be covered by cuts to services, with those provided to the elderly most at risk – which could lead to fewer hours of help provided in homes and day centres being closed.