Responding to the publication of the provisional local government
finance settlement for England in 2025 to 2026, Nuffield Trust
Deputy Director of Policy Natasha Curry said:
“The new grant money for
councils announced today is welcome. It will go some way to
easing what will be a very tough year for local authorities and
social care.
"It's also good to see first steps
towards funding reform and allocating money more fairly. We have
long warned that the fact that poorer councils find it harder to
raise taxes has caused unacceptable inequalities in how much
money is available for care.
“However, even if it all went to adult
social care, the extra social care grant funding of £880m and
national insurance contributions (NICs) funding of £515m fall
well short of the £2bn
of additional cost pressures we estimate from the National Living Wage and employer
NICs. This figure relates to the share of adult social care paid
for by councils. Even the total real terms increase in council
spending from all sources is barely enough to just cover
these costs.
“This will mean tough choices for
local authorities between increasing fees to social care
providers to recognise their costs and spending on other
services. It will leave little to meet the gap we know social
care faces from rising demand, tackle rising waiting lists or to
improve the many other overstretched services for which local
authorities are responsible. The government should monitor
provider stability closely and be ready to act.
“While today's funding news will bring
short-term cost relief in some areas, ultimately care provision
remains on a knife-edge for many councils and care providers.
With the Health and Social Care Secretary also reaffirming today
that action on a long-term plan for social care reform will start
in the new year, the sector will be still starting that journey
from a difficult place and there will be no time to
waste.”
Ends.
The Provisional local government finance settlement: England,
2025 to 2026 and supporting documents are online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/provisional-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2025-to-2026
