Social Care At A Crossroads – The King’s Fund’s Response To The ADASS Budget Survey

Responding to this year’s ADASS budget survey, Richard Humphries, Assistant Director of Policy at The King’s Fund said:

‘This survey once again highlights the mounting pressures on social care budgets. There is no hiding the fact that, despite the best efforts of local authorities, a sixth consecutive year of budget cuts will mean further reductions in services and fewer people receiving support. It defies demography that councils will spend £1 billion less this year on essential services that more of us will need.

‘Social care is now at a crossroads. It is at risk of becoming a residual service, available only to those with the lowest incomes and highest needs, leaving thousands of people and their families struggling to meet the costs of care.

‘Social care funding was the ghost at the feast of the election campaign, a subject none of the main parties dared to mention. Politicians must now be honest about the scale of the pressures on services and recognise that additional funding for social care must be a priority ahead of the Spending Review in the autumn.

‘As health leaders meet in Liverpool this week, the survey is another reminder that the NHS cannot be looked at in isolation from social care. As the Barker Commission has set out, a new settlement is needed to place the NHS and social care on a sustainable footing for the future