Social Care Budget Reaction: Praise for Carers’ Reform, Frustration Over Funding
Social care leaders have warned that the Chancellor’s Budget offers “little” to ease the sector’s immediate pressures, despite welcome news on unpaid carers.
The abolition of the Carer’s Allowance “cliff edge” from 2030 was praised across the board, but providers and think tanks said the absence of extra local authority spending power leaves councils unable to fund the 3.9% rise in the National Living Wage, raising fears for care providers and the workforce until wider reform arrives.
Diane Lightfoot, CEO of Business Disability Forum, said: “The Chancellor has today done the right thing by removing the Carer’s Allowance ‘cliff edge’. Working carers in our member organisations have told us how important this type of change would be, as people who balance work with caring responsibilities have faced financial penalties when earning more, taking on an extra shift or increasing their hours. Removing this barrier is an important step towards enabling working carers to balance their responsibilities with their work and not be disadvantaged when trying to increase their income.
“It’s also great to see the Government’s focus on prevention, growth and innovation, and we look forward to the publication of the Milburn and Timms reports next month. We continue to work with the Government, disabled people, carers and employers to support a more inclusive economy where disabled people can access work, thrive and progress in their careers.”
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England said: “The Chancellor said he wants to invest in preventative measures and allow businesses to expand. Local authorities must be properly empowered to make these ambitions a reality; however, this budget makes little difference to improving the state of adult social care services in this Parliament, where there is still unmet need and an ever-increasing funding gap according to our three recent reports on care provider funding.
“Whilst some measures will be positive for workers in the care sector, such as increases to the Living Wage, the increases in local government core funding power will not leave enough headroom to pay for these increases and also account for the growth needed in the sector to meet increasing demand for social care. This risks setting local authorities up to fail and risks undermining the very care system the government has promised to reform.
“I say to the Chancellor, if you want to improve conditions for our sector and our workforce, you must put in the funding needed to meet these costs.”
Nadra Ahmed CBE, Executive Co-Chair of National Care Association, said: “All the indications in the run-up to the Budget suggested that social care would once again go unrecognised. The Prime Minister’s bold words on arriving at Downing Street now feel hollow, echoing the promises of his predecessors.
Thus far, this Labour Government has made employment more expensive for businesses, despite the fact that our workforce is our greatest asset. There was an opportunity to reduce Employers National Insurance contributions and VAT for our sector, giving providers some much-needed ‘breathing space’, as has been offered to other employers. There must be greater recognition of the fact that social care contributes more than £75 billion to the economy.
We welcome the strong message of support for unpaid carers, whose contribution saves the country substantial additional care costs. This recognition is, of course, welcome from a budgetary perspective.
However, the limited approach of waiting for reform before making any strategic commitment to stabilising social care condemns our sector to another lengthy period of invisibility.
There is no breathing space for care providers across the country. The challenges remain significant:
The wider cost-of-living crisis continues to affect the people we support, their families and the communities in which care services operate.”
Kirsty McHugh, Chief Executive of Carers Trust, said: “We were pleased to hear the Chancellor reaffirm the UK Government’s commitment to abolishing the Carer’s Allowance ‘cliff-edge’ that has long been a harmful part of our benefits system. No carer should be punished for juggling paid work with their caring responsibilities, and we hope this change offers reassurance for carers across the country. We will continue to push the Government to use this moment as platform for much-needed, fundamental reform of Carer’s Allowance. We must see an end to concerningly high eligibility criteria and devastatingly low payments to ensure the system is pulled out of the 1970s and made fit for the future.
“Looking ahead to the publication of the Milburn Review, we hope to see a real focus on the barriers faced by many young adult carers when it comes to entering the workplace or education. We need realistic recommendations for how they will be better supported to access the same life opportunities as their peers. Equally, we hope the upcoming report from the Timms Review safeguards carers, many of whom are unable to work because of the levels of the care they provide.
“While we will continue our work with the Casey Commission and support of the Government’s ambitions for social care reform, we were disappointed to hear no announcements today that will support the social care system in the immediate term. Carers and people receiving care must see urgent change and cannot afford to wait years for the fairer, stronger system they need to become a reality.”
Siva Anandaciva, Director of Policy, Events and Partnerships at The King’s Fund, said: ‘Considering the wider national priorities and the economic storms facing the country, it is understandable that little was said on the NHS and adult social care compared to recent Budgets. The Chancellor talked a lot about breathing space, but he will have less than he would like when it comes to a health and care sector heading into winter and with the looming threat of further industrial action. All eyes will now turn to the upcoming spending review where the really difficult decisions will need to be made for the rest of this Parliament.
‘There have been some positive smaller announcements today, including higher tax-free mileage rates for care workers, ending the carer’s allowance cliff edge from 2030, extra funding to support the NHS over winter and action to address wider societal issues that contribute to poor health such as measures around rough sleeping, gambling and vape shops, as well as investment in life sciences. There is also an opportunity to deliver better value for money with a new review into AI in the NHS.
‘While it may not grab the headlines, the announcement of a new ring-fenced type of public spending focused on prevention has the potential to be genuinely transformational for the health and care service. Protecting spending on services that keep us healthy could finally deliver the government’s ambition to have an NHS that is a health service rather than a sickness treatment service. This will require a lot of intense work over the coming months across government to develop the details of how this change in spending policy will be delivered by the 2027 Spending Review.
‘We, alongside others across the sector, have welcomed the government’s recent ambition to reform social care. For too long, too many people haven’t been able to access the care they need. But today’s Budget had little concrete detail to support these social care ambitions.
‘Restoring hope for the future is an admirable ambition, but the government has less breathing room than it would like – and that only makes it more important that the government is realistic with the health and care sector and the public about what can be achieved within the current financial envelope.’
NHS Alliance director of policy David Williams, said: “The chancellor rightly acknowledged the pressures posed by increased energy costs and inflation.
“Add to that the impact on the NHS of further planned industrial action and costs linked to the UK-US trade deal. There is precious little financial breathing space in the NHS, and the government must be realistic about what it expects the health service to deliver with the resources available.
“The additional £190 million for winter pressures is welcome, but short-term cash injections like this cannot fix the fundamentals. We look forward to working with the government on its planned review of productivity, focusing on the adoption of AI.”
Nuffield Trust Chief Executive Thea Stein said: “Besides the welcome adjustment to Carer’s Allowance, today’s Budget was notable for lacking any meaningful action on social care. Care staff will welcome the 3.9% rise in the National Living Wage, but employers will be hit hard unless local authorities can pay them more. With no uplift in councils’ spending power today, many will struggle to do so.
“The Chancellor reiterated the Prime Minister’s pledge to create a “new settlement” for older people with a National Care Service funded from changes to the triple lock by 2030. While the Prime Minister’s commitment to reforming social care offers hope for change, there is a risk that starving local authorities now will leave these services in such a threadbare state that delivering on his promises will not be feasible.”
