Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors have voted against giving an additional £200,000 to the Milton Keynes Council safeguarding department, after it was revealed that the department is one of the worst in the country for investigating issues.
The vote was taken at the Council's annual budget meeting last week, in which Conservative Councillor Alice Jenkins put down an amendment to improve the funding for the service.
It follows a report by Action on Elder Abuse last year which found that Milton Keynes Council was one of the ten local authorities in the UK who are least likely to launch a protection enquiry when abuse is suspected.
Council officials dismissed the report last year and said that the statistics "don’t paint an accurate picture" and they stressed that "where there is a serious safeguarding issue and serious concern, we act very promptly."
Cllr Alice Jenkins told MKFM: "Last week, we were hoping to give £200,000 to the budget in order to pay for more staff members in the department. This would seek to bolster the team and hopefully offer reassurance to the public, many of whom have been in touch worried about the earlier report."
"Separately, the safeguarding board and Health and Adult Social Care committee are reviewing the matter, but it was hoped the Labour administration would take it seriously enough to add extra funding into this vital area, especially as half of the council tax increase is especially for issues such as this. Surely, we should be spending it to protect our most vulnerable not stashing it away?"
