Only Madrid obtains a worse score in the latest report prepared by the association that brings together the directors and managers of the sector
The Region of Murcia continues to trail behind Spain in terms of investment and coverage of social services. This is highlighted in the latest report prepared by the Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services, which qualifies the Region as “irrelevant” in this area, with a rating of 3.09 in the so-called DEC index. This indicator measures from the budget items to the ratios of professionals and the existing vacancies in the different services, such as residences for the elderly or day centers. Only Madrid gets a worse score (3.07).
The association warns that the pandemic “has slowed down” the “weak recovery” that social services in Spain were experiencing, and denounces that large territorial imbalances remain. Thus, the Region of Murcia is the community that spends the least on social services in relation to its population (317.4 euros per inhabitant), compared to 971 in the Basque Country, 540.4 in Extremadura or 512.7 from La Rioja. While the public administrations of Asturias allocate 9.7% of their budgets to social services, in the Region of Murcia the percentage remains at 6.5%.
The report warns that “the weight of local funding on total spending on social services in the Region of Murcia is one of the lowest in Spain.” However, the Community and the municipalities increased spending on social services by 16.9% in 2020, compared to the previous year. It is “one of the largest budget increases in that year of the pandemic, above the state average, which was 10%.” But the Region starts so far behind that despite this improvement it is still at the bottom. The structural deficits, in fact, remain.
The report highlights that the Region barely has 1.42 places in publicly funded residences for every 100 elderly people, compared to the 2.70 average in Spain. “It is worrying that, in 2020, the year of the dramatic impact of the pandemic, coverage decreased [de plazas públicas] by 0.25 points”, warns the association. The situation is not better in home help, which barely reaches 1.9% of potential beneficiaries, compared to the state average of 5.1%. There is also low coverage in telecare and in day centers and less development of the Dependency system. In addition, the minimum insertion income reaches only 6.4% of the population living below the poverty line in the Region. In Spain, coverage is 9%.
The new law, an advance
The report applauds, however, the approval of the Social Services Law. It is something “remarkable”, since “it constitutes an opportunity for a new stage marked by the development of its social services”, the document states. “It’s necessary that [la Comunidad] complete its regulatory framework by preparing and approving the catalog of social services -continues the report-; If so, it would have a very advanced system management framework, since it has strategic planning, although without an economic memory, and Dependency Care is integrated into the social services system».
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