Levelling up committee calls for urgent boost to social care funding
0A report by the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee (LUHC) has said that additional funding is urgently required to finance adult social care and called for a multi-year settlement for councils.
The report found that adult social care is currently under severe cost pressures from the increase of the National Living Wage, National Minimum Wage and rising inflation.
It also highlighted that additional pressures from Covid-19 exacerbated the underlying structural challenges of rising demand, unmet needs and difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff in the sector.
The report said: “The message rang clear throughout our inquiry: the adult social care sector does not have enough funding either in the here and now, or in the longer-term.
“The government must provide a multi-year funding settlement to give local authorities the visibility they need both of their own sustainability and also to help shape sustainable local care markets.”
The report noted that the majority of the Social Care Levy, which was introduced to raise additional funds, will go to the NHS and the money that is going to adult social care is for reforms, not cost pressures.
Clive Betts, LUHC Chair, said: “Wherever the money comes from – from allocating a higher proportion of levy proceeds to social care, or from central government grants—the government urgently needs to allocate more funding to adult social care in the order of several billions each year.”
The report also highlighted the lack of a clear roadmap to implement the government’s long-term reform of adult social care, which was outlined in its White Paper.
Eleanor Roy, CIPFA health and social care policy manager, said: “Providing clarity on how these reforms are to be achieved and the better alignment of policy across central government departments would help local government navigate this complex landscape, which has many competing priorities.
“Without such a plan and adequate funding, the vision for reform will not be realised.”
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