Question of social care funding must be urgently addressed to put health and care on a sustainable footing
14 November 2018
- The Local Government Association (LGA) have announced that the government must make the case for national tax rises, including to either income tax and/or national insurance, to secure the long-term future of adult social care services.
- At the National Children and Adult Services Conference, the LGA is publishing its response to its social care green paper consultation, setting out findings, implications and recommendations.
- They warn that years of significant underfunding of councils, coupled with rising demand and costs for care and support, have combined to push adult social care services to breaking point.
- They acknowledge that the government has provided helpful extra funding to tackle some of the immediate pressures, however warn that adult social care services still face a £3.5bn funding gap by 2025, just to maintain existing standards of care.
Responding to the Local Government Associations response to its social care ‘green paper’, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said:
“We were pleased to support the Local Government Association’s work to consult on a green paper exploring options for the future for adult social care. We need to urgently address the crisis in adult social care if we are to succeed in putting health and care on a sustainable footing for the future.
We need to urgently address the crisis in adult social care if we are to succeed in putting health and care on a sustainable footing for the future.
“There is much to commend within these recommendations. We agree the social care sector needs urgent national investment to meet growing demand and the needs of the future population. We also need to see a reverse to damaging cuts to public health and support services, and fully appreciate the role of community services, primary care and local government in meeting these challenges.
“While we welcome the broad consensus around increasing the funding for social care, we believe the method for delivering this is a political decision for the government to make. However, the need to take action is now more pressing than ever.”