London's vulnerable adults deserve better - London Councils 

The quality of life for thousands of the capital's vulnerable adults will suffer unless the government changes the way it distributes funding for social care services, London Councils warns today.

Those at risk include adults with learning difficulties, physical disabilities and mental health problems, as well as those receiving treatment for drug and alcohol abuse.

A change to the formula used to predict need for social care services for 18 to 64 year olds has squeezed funding in London while benefiting some regions facing less pressure on their services, such as Yorkshire or the East Midlands.

The new personal social services (PSS) formula, introduced in 2006, could result in London's social services losing £863 million of funding for 2008-11. London authorities previously had some protection against these huge losses in the form of formula damping, but this was removed by ministers in April this year.

Boroughs are now dependent on grant damping - where the government guarantees a minimum funding increase in grant (or floor). But 28 London boroughs are on the grant floor for 2008/9 - and the level of floor is diminishing year on year.