Councils Call for £13 Billion for Social Care to be Delivered as Promised by PM
The Local Government Association is calling on the Prime Minister to deliver the £13 billion pledged to tackle the crisis in adult social care as part of her leadership campaign.
Liz Truss assured councils during her leadership campaign that she would find the funding for social care after removing the rise in National Insurance expected at today’s emergency budget.
The LGA argues that £6 billion of this funding is needed immediately to increase care worker pay, meet demography and inflation pressures and stabilise the provider market. The rest of the £13 billion is also needed urgently to ensure councils are able to deliver on all of their statutory duties under the Care Act.
With waiting lists of over 500,000 for care assessments and care, as well as vacancies estimated to be over 100,000 across all roles in the sector, social care is in dire need of this comprehensive package so that people of all ages who draw on care are best able to live an equal life.
This coming winter is widely expected to be particularly challenging which means it’s vital that there is significant new investment now so that people are able to access the support they need. This would also help ensure that social care can play its part in helping to alleviate the pressures facing the NHS.
Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board said:
“The new PM can make a dramatic improvement to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people by delivering on this promise.
“This injection of funds is exactly what the sector needs to come back fighting fit and ensure it is stable and effective in these turbulent times.
“Social care’s lack of capacity to deliver the care that people need to live their life is being seen in higher waiting lists and people not getting the care they need, with impacts on the NHS. The Government needs to step in now.
“If it doesn’t, we can expect one of the most challenging winters in recent times, with severe knock-on effects that will continue to significantly impact on people and their loved ones.”