Care and support services hope for budget cash

AN investment of nearly £1.2m is on the cards to guarantee important services helping elderly and vulnerable people across the region for the next year. The Care and Repair service costs £948,000 per year to run in the region, while the Small Repairs and Home Support service adds a further £149,000. Another £15,000 is needed to fund the Dementia Friendly Design project throughout 2024/25, and £37,400 is the annual bill for the Food Train At Home service. To ensure these can continue as normal over the next year, councillors will need to sign off on handing over the £1.15m total amount to Dumfries and Galloway Integration Joint Board, which has overall responsibility for these services in the community. A further £50,000 has been earmarked to support the development of the council’s Trusted Trader scheme, which assists homeowners in finding suitable, trustworthy tradespeople. The matter will be discussed at the council’s annual budget meeting next Thursday.