On 11th October 2017, the Local Government Association (LGA) published an informative report: Adult Social Care Funding: State of the nationThis paper looks at both the immediate needs in social care funding today, and longer term considerations. It states that local government as a whole faces a funding gap of £5.8 billion by 2020. Councils urgently require an additional £1 billion to cover unavoidable costs of demography, inflation and the National Living Wage, as well as a minimum of £1.3 billion to stabilise the adult social care provider market.
The report looks first at local government funding overall, noting that “English councils will have managed reductions to their core funding from central government totalling £16 billion between 2010 and 2020”, suggesting that they may be running out of ways to reduce local government spending that the public may find acceptable.
Adult social care is recognised – almost universally – as being in crisis right now, with the future looking no brighter. Funding pressures are mounting, with very real consequences for the entire system and particularly for the very people the service is intended to support.
With the government’s recent announcement that they will publish a green paper on care and support for
older people by summer 2018, it’s clear that we should not expect the issues in the LGA paper to be addressed in the upcoming Autumn budget. It’s good to see the government recognising (again) that we need a long-term, sustainable funding solution for adult social care, but we must hope that the green paper, when it is published, goes beyond quick fixes, and looks to create a transparent, sustainable, long-term strategy that integrates social care, health and housing.
older people by summer 2018, it’s clear that we should not expect the issues in the LGA paper to be addressed in the upcoming Autumn budget. It’s good to see the government recognising (again) that we need a long-term, sustainable funding solution for adult social care, but we must hope that the green paper, when it is published, goes beyond quick fixes, and looks to create a transparent, sustainable, long-term strategy that integrates social care, health and housing.