Adult social care
“My Government will bring forward proposals to reform
adult social care in England to ensure dignity in old
age.”
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Putting social care on a sustainable footing is one of
the biggest long-term challenges facing society.
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Government has given local authorities access to up to
£3.9 billion more dedicated funding for adult social care this
year, with a further £410 million made available for adults and
children’s services.
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In the recent spending round, Government announced that
councils will be provided with access to an additional £1
billion for adult and children’s social care next year.
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The Government will consult on a 2 per cent precept that
will enable councils to access a further £500 million for adult
social care. This funding will support local authorities to
meet rising demand and will continue to stabilise the social
care system.
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We will bring forward substantive proposals to fix the
crisis in social care to give everyone the dignity and security
they deserve. This will include setting out legislative
requirements.
Key facts
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Care costs are unpredictable and can be very high, which
can make it difficult for people to prepare.
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A person aged 65 can expect to have care costs of around
£40,000 on average over later life.
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Around one in ten people will have care costs of more
than £100,000 before accommodation costs, while around one in
four will have no costs at all.
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There is normally no way to predict whether that will be
you and, unlike with the NHS, risk is not shared across
society.
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This means many people risk spending the majority of the
wealth for which they have worked hard to save. If they need
care they will only get financial help with their costs when
they have spent all but £23,350 of their life savings. Most
people are unprepared for this, because the reality of care
costs is not widely understood.
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37The number of people aged below 65 who have care needs
is also growing.
In 2017-18 over half of the public spending on adult social
care was on those who are under 65, including people with
learning and/or physical disabilities and mental ill
health.
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The Better Care Fund is joining up the NHS and social
care at a local level, with more money than ever - almost £6.5
billion in 2019-20, as well as £2 billion being pooled
voluntarily last year- to make sure services are more joined up
for patients.
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On 12 February, the Government launched a new national
adult social care recruitment campaign ‘Every Day is
Different’. This campaign aimed to raise the image and profile
of the sector and encourage people with the right values to
apply for current vacancies.
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The campaign has been successful in raising awareness of
and interest in working in the sector, generating over 20,000
(14 per cent) more clicks on the ‘Apply’ button for relevant
jobs on DWP Find a Job.
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The Government has announced £98 million of investment
through the Healthy Ageing Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund
to stimulate well-designed innovations that support people to
enjoy active and independent lives for longer.
