“Properly funding social care and prevention measures not only helps councils with overly-stretched budgets offer the vital support that older and disabled people need, it also helps to prevent crises and cost pressures in the NHS by reducing the numbers of people who are admitted to hospital.
Responding to a joint report by the Housing, Communities and Local Government and Health and Social Care Committees on the long-term funding of adult social care, Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“This report reflects the bold and radical decisions that need to be made if we are to solve the irrefutable crisis in funding adult social care.
“It is good to see these influential committees come together and support many of the points that the LGA has been making on behalf of councils, including more funding to help balance spending on all services alongside adult social care budgets – which now account for nearly 40 per cent of total spend - and recognition of the central role of housing and public health alongside health and social care services.
“Councils should have full flexibility over council tax banding and we continue to urge the Government to move to local retention of 100 per cent of business rates without the transfer of additional responsibilities. But business rates and council tax income are unlikely to be enough to fund adult social care pressures in the long-term, as the committees note.
“Properly funding social care and prevention measures not only helps councils with overly-stretched budgets offer the vital support that older and disabled people need, it also helps to prevent crises and cost pressures in the NHS by reducing the numbers of people who are admitted to hospital.
“All funding options should be up for discussion and a cross-party approach, backed by public engagement, is vital if we are to build consensus on how to future-proof the wide provision of reliable, high quality care and support in every community to enable people to live independent and fulfilling lives.
“It is now time for government to plug immediate sector pressures and then to go on to deliver a sustainable long-term solution to funding adult social care through its forthcoming Green Paper for the benefit of everyone in society.”