Shh! Don’t Mention the Care Crisis . . . Party Conferences Avoid Raising Care Sector Cutbacks

The Campaign for Action to Protect the Independent Social Care Sector, initiated by the National Care Association, continues to question the failure of politicians to address the realities of social care underfunding . . . particularly, the failure to honour manifesto pledges. 

NCA Chair Nadra Ahmed OBE says, ‘It should be pointed out that Local Authorities are NOT acting on the Tory Government’s Manifesto Pledge that vowed to ‘help create strong local economies’ and to ‘promote localism’ by reducing ‘ring-fencing’ with the promise ‘to give councils more flexibility to support local services.’ Measured by local authority cost-cutting on care provision, the Government’s pledges are not being converted into effective action to ensure care of the elderly remains a vital resource. We, the NCA, would strongly recommend that central Government should consider actually ring-fencing any funding made available for social care to ensure it reaches the most frail and vulnerable members of local communities. Without this assurance we fear that any monies earmarked for social care will be used to fill Local Authority funding black holes’

NCA’s Face-the-Facts Campaign sees care providers unite at special events in days of action to alert MPs, the Media and the sector they serve to the very real threat posed by chronic underfunding for the UK’s independent Residential Care Provision Sector, a recognised UK support service essential to local government and NHS care provision. The current funding cuts by Local Authorities, in response to the austerity measures imposed by Central Government, are 35% more severe than last year’s shortfall: a loss which means that the UK’s independent care providers are forced to plug the gap between local authority rates and the actual care home fees, a £375 million black hole . . . a shortfall that heralds the collapse of the independent care homes sector.