By Richard Johnstone | 29 October 2014
Local authorities face a £4.3bn gap in adult social care funding by the end of the decade due to increasing demand for services and cuts in funding, an analysis has found.
The examination of town hall funding by the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Social Services said the gap between money available for services and demand made provision uncertain for thousands of older and disabled adults.
Their report stated that successful integration of health and social care – which is being taken forward by the government’s flagship Better Care Fund from next April – was vital to save the care system from collapsing.
Over the last year alone, councils were forced to divert £900m funding from other budgets to simply maintain the current level of service, despite also receiving additional money from government in the 2010 spending review.
LGA chair David Sparks said local authorities would continue to protect spending on adult social care next year as much as possible and had already found £3.5bn worth of savings in their adult social care budgets.
He warned that the government was ‘knowingly backing councils into a corner where they have to make impossible decisions about cutting other important services just to continue to manage caring and supporting our most vulnerable’.
The clock was now ticking to ensure funding was available for the ‘make or break’ implementation of the BCF from next April, he added.
‘These new figures are further proof that we need to stop vital adult social care services spiralling into a black hole. We must act now to both improve quality of life for people in their older years and steer England’s social care system away from the road to financial ruin.
‘It’s not right that councils are taking the biggest hit in the pocket when we compare funding for delivering health and care services. We should all be working together to increase the ambition for a future of integrated health and social care that will deliver the best possible care to those who need it.’
Adass president David Pearson asserted that the next general election was vital for the future of adult social care.
‘There are real opportunities ahead of us to realise the full ambitions of the Care Act and to continue to transform services and support to put the individual at the centre,’ he said.
‘The proper funding of adult social care is critical in this and Adass looks forward to working with LGA to help inform this important national debate.’
