Responding to a letter to the Chancellor from leading healthcare
groups calling for more money to be invested in adult social care
and public health services, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the
Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“Adult social care is vital in its own right and we have been
clear for some time that the service is at breaking point and in
desperate need of genuinely new funding to secure its future.
“Despite significant funding pressures, councils have made great
progress in reducing the number of people in hospital due to a
lack of available social care. To help councils build on this
work and reduce pressures on the NHS, it is essential adult
social care is put on an equal footing with the health service.
Without new funding we risk going backwards and undoing the great
work that has been achieved to date. This will impact on people
across the country.
“The Chancellor should use the Budget to stabilise adult social
care in the here and now, set out a long-term sustainable funding
solution, and as a minimum reverse the false economy of the cuts
to councils’ public health budgets.
“Social care, public health and other council services that
support people’s wider wellbeing help people live longer,
healthier and happier lives, but the reality is that many local
authorities are having to make difficult decisions on these key
services, including stopping them altogether, further compounding
the pressures on GP surgeries and hospitals.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
Adult social care faces a £3.5 billion funding gap by 2025, just
to maintain existing standards of care. Following government’s
decision to delay its green paper on adult social care, the LGA
published its own green paper consultation to drive forward the
public debate on what sort of care and support we need to improve
people’s wellbeing and independence, the need to focus on
prevention work, and, crucially, how we fund these vital
services.
There has been a £600 million reduction to councils’ public
health grants between 2015/16 and 2019/20.
