Councils issue warning over care reform costs

7 Aug 14
Council have warned that they lack the resources needed to implement the reforms to adult social services made by the Care Act.

By Mark Smulian | 7 August 2014

Councils have warned that they lack the resources needed to implement the reforms to adult social services made by the Care Act.

Social care funding older people

A Local Government Association survey found 134 out of 152 councils with social care responsibilities felt a lack of funding could jeopardise the reforms, which are due to take effect in April 2015. These include giving service users greater control over their care through personal budgets. From 2016, the government will also introduce a cap on the amount people pay towards their support, set at £72,000.

The LGA, which has previously warned that the reforms could lead to a crisis in provision, has written to care minister Norman Lamb to urge the government to plug any funding shortfall once the changes are introduced.

It said a major concern for councils was uncertainty over the number of people who presently pay for their all care, but who will request an assessment under the new system as part of the cap. Councils might be unable to meet this additional demand without further strain on their budgets.

However Katie Hall, the chair of the LGA's community wellbeing board, said the only acceptable solutions to a funding shortfall would be more government money, not a delay in implementation.

‘With only eight months to go until councils will have to start implementing these changes, the clock is ticking for government to get the funding right so that these vital reforms do not face collapse before they have even begun,’ she added.

‘Many people will have been anticipating the positive impact that some of these changes could have on their lives and now could be facing the very real possibility that the Government could have unfairly raised their expectations through a failure to properly fund the changes.’

Repsonding to the report, a Department of Health spokeswoman said: ‘The Care Act is a huge step forward in how we support older and disabled people in this country.

'We have given councils an extra £1.1bn this year to protect social care services and are providing extensive support to implement the reforms, including £470m next year. We will continue to work with councils and the LGA to ensure the changes are sustainable.’

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