Nine in ten councils say national taxation key to solving adult social care funding crisis

Nine in ten (89 per cent) of councils say national taxation must be part of the solution to securing the long-term financial stability of adult social care.

Ahead of its Annual Conference in Birmingham next week, the Local Government Association has polled the leaders and adult social care cabinet members in all 152 councils providing social care in England to gauge their views on the options for funding adult social care and support for the long-term.

The survey - the first of its kind by the LGA - reveals that 96 per cent believe there is a major national funding problem in adult social care.

England's 152 social care authorities have been able to increase council tax in recent years to pay for adult social care. The LGA has warned that extra council tax income cannot be expected to plug growing funding gaps and protect adult social care services from further cutbacks and more than two thirds of councils (70 per cent) responding to the survey agree that increasing council tax is not part of the solution.

A separate LGA public poll reveals nearly nine out of 10 people (87 per cent) surveyed believe that councils should be given more government funding to tackle the funding gap in the sector.

The LGA said the findings further demonstrate that bold and possibly radical political decisions are urgently needed to provide a long-term and sustainable solution to funding adult social care.

In the disappointing absence of the Government’s Green Paper on adult social care, now delayed until the autumn, the LGA today also announces that it will publish its own Green Paper on adult social care later in July, complete with consultation and engagement, to kick-start an urgently-needed debate about how as a society we should fund this vital service in the future.

There is growing political and public consensus that councils should be given more funding to pay for adult social care. Council leaders say it is essential that national political parties come together to try and build consensus on the way forward, working closely with councils as a key partner in designing and implementing possible future changes.

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:

“Our surveys show beyond doubt that the overwhelming majority of both our national politicians, and the people they represent, will settle for nothing less than additional funding from Government to help solve the social care funding crisis.

“Public polling consistently demonstrates that the British public is proud of the NHS and wants to see funding for it increase, even if that means paying more tax. We are now seeing similar consensus on the need for more funding for adult social care.

“Properly funding social care and prevention services not only helps councils with overly-stretched budgets protect care services for the benefit of those requiring them, it also helps to prevent further crises in the NHS and saves the health service a fortune by keeping people safe and well in their own homes, reducing the number of hospital admissions.

“We need an amnesty on the politics of care funding reform. All options should be on the table to solve the funding crisis in adult social care and enable councils to meet growing demand with high quality and safe services that help people live their lives. The longer we wait for long-term reforms, the more likely we will see an unresolvable year-round problem in A&E.

“The funding crisis cannot be ignored any longer which is why the LGA is now writing its own Green Paper on adult social care in a bid to engage the public, politicians and the adult social care sector to help shape official legislation to best help people of all ages with care needs access a wide range of reliable and high quality care they deserve.”

NOTES TO EDITOR

• ·         The survey is based on responses from 84 leaders and lead members from 79 councils with adult social care responsibilities, which is 52 per cent of councils. The responses are all from either council leaders or adult social care portfolio holders, or their equivalents.
• ·         Recent public polling, conducted by telephone for the LGA by Populus Data Solutions with a representative random sample of 917 adults in England and Wales, shows that 87 per cent of the public ‘strongly agree’ (45 per cent) or ‘tend to agree’ (42 per cent) that councils should be given additional central government funding to deal with the funding gap in adult social care.

• ·         77 per cent of respondents to a recent NHS Confederation survey strongly support/support increases in public spending on health (4 per cent a year). 82 per cent of respondents said they strongly support/support a spending increase for social care (3.9 per cent a year).

• ·         In an Ipsos Mori poll, the public named community and social care services in their top three spending priorities for any new NHS funding, with over 4 in 10 prioritising it above even surgery and primary care.

• ·         A recent ComRes poll commissioned by the LGA found that the vast majority of parliamentarians (84 per cent of MPs and 81 per cent of Peers) agree that additional funding should go to councils’ social care budgets to tackle the funding crisis.

• ·         Recent public polling, conducted by telephone for the LGA by Populus Data Solutions with a representative random sample of 1,004 British adults, shows that 72 per cent of the public trust their local council the most to make decisions about local services, compared to 17 per cent who trust national government the most.