We need to talk about adult social care, urges Local Government Association
Consultation by LGA is a bid to influence government ahead of social care green paper
Society cannot duck the issue of adult social care any longer, say council leaders as they call for a debate on the future of services.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has begun a public consultation – and issued its own consultation paper titled The Lives We Want to Lead – on how best to support the well-being of older people and those with disabilities – as well as how to pay for it.
Services at breaking point
The LGA said it had taken action after the government's recent decision to delay its green paper on social care until the autumn, despite services being, it says, at breaking point.
That delay led the RCN to state that the extra £20.5 billion a year for the NHS, from 2019-2024, will be worthless without an adequate investment plan for social care.
Since 2010, councils have had to bridge a £6 billion funding gap to maintain the current system amid rising demand and underfunding, the LGA said.
£3.5 billion annual funding gap
The organisation, representing local authorities in England and Wales, estimates that adult social services will face a £3.5 billion annual funding gap by 2025.
It said spending on adult social care accounts for around 40% of council budgets and is threatening the future of other town hall services such as parks, leisure centres and libraries.
‘We cannot duck this issue as a society any longer’
Izzi Seccombe, Local Government Association
Izzi Seccombe, chair of the LGA community well-being board, said: 'Work to find a long-term funding solution for adult social care and support has been kicked into the long grass by successive governments for the past two decades and has brought these services to breaking point.
'It has created a deeply uncertain and worrying outlook for people who use adult social care services now and the growing number of people who will need them in the future. We cannot duck this issue as a society any longer.'
Public debate
The LGA's own 'green paper' on adult social care sets out possible funding options. These include increasing income tax, national insurance and council tax, and means-testing for universal benefits such as the winter fuel allowance and the TV licence.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Our paper due in the autumn will set out our plans to reform the social care system.'
The LGA consultation will run for eight weeks and after that it will publish its findings before the government's green paper.
Read more
LGA consultation on adult social care
In other news