The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has
launched a new inquiry to investigate how Covid-19 has impacted
the adult social care sector and its long-term funding needs
following the pandemic.
The adult social care sector comprises a range of support
services for older people and working age adults with
disabilities. In 2018-19 it accounted for 41% of local authority
expenditure. Continuing pressures on services and increased
demand have been addressed by short-term and fragmented
additional funding from central Government, making long-term
planning difficult.
Covid-19 has placed additional pressures on adult social care.
Costs have increased due to additional PPE, cleaning and staff
costs, while a fall in demand for services threatens to put
providers out of business. The long-term economic, social and
health consequences of Covid-19 remain uncertain.
The Committee carried out a joint inquiry with the Health and
Social Care Committee on the long-term funding of Adult Social
Care in 2018. It called for the establishment of a Parliamentary
Commission to develop a long-term funding solution for adult
social care based on political consensus and public engagement,
covering housing as well as health and social care services. It
recommended that additional funding be raised through Council Tax
reform, a new ring-fenced social care premium for the over-40s or
increases to inheritance tax above a certain threshold.
Building on the work of its predecessor committee, the new
inquiry will investigate the likely legacy of the Covid-19
pandemic on the adult social care sector and the impact this has
had on long-term funding need. It will also examine how
additional funds can be raised to ensure the long-term stability
of the sector and how the social care market can supported to
improve innovation.
Launching the inquiry, Committee Chair said:
“The challenge of finding a long-term solution to the financial
pressures on the adult social care system is one of the toughest
questions we will have to face in the coming years. We have seen
year on year the demand on services increasing, while local
authority budgets have been stretched more and more. The
Government has attempted to address this spasmodically with
one-off pots of funding for the most critical needs, but it is
clear the we must have a solution that provides a financial plan
for decades, not just months. Unless the funding of social care
is resolved there will continue to be more cuts to other council
services and this is simply not sustainable.
“Our new inquiry sets out to understand how Covid-19 has placed
further stress on an already challenging environment, and the
likely long-term consequences for adult social care. Given the
likely long-term financial implications of the pandemic on
society as a whole, we will also reconsider how we can provide
the necessary funding boost fairly and look at how we can support
the sector to innovate in how it provides care.”
Terms of reference
The Committee invites submissions on some or all of the following
questions:
- How has Covid-19 changed the landscape for long-term funding
reform of the adult social care sector?
- How should additional funds for the adult social care sector
be raised?
- How can the adult social care market be stabilised?
- How can the adult social care market be incentivised to
compete on quality and/or innovation?
Submit evidence
The Committee welcomes evidence on the questions set out in the
terms of reference above. You can find out more about how to give
evidence here, or by visiting the inquiry page here.
If you have direct experience of the issues we investigate we
would love to hear from you.
The deadline for submissions is 15 April 2021.
