Planned social care savings 'will hit older and disabled people'
Further social care cuts due to a funding shortfall will hit older and disabled people, leaders of adult social services have said.
The annual survey of 151 directors of social services at councils across England found there are plans to save £824 million on social care, with at least 39% of this coming from cuts to services.
The new research from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) said more than £1.1 billion extra would be needed just to maintain last year's level of service.
The council tax precept, an additional council tax charge designed to help ease the social care burden for councils, raises £380 million a year, but accounts for less than two thirds of national living wages for care staff, the association said.
Financial difficulty
Last year, 45% of directors of social services surveyed said they felt confident savings could be made, but this has fallen to 36% this financial year, and just 8% said they felt confident savings would be achieved next year. Some 84% also said care homes and providers of care in their area are facing financial difficulty.
ADASS president Margaret Willcox said: 'Councils still plan to make further savings of £824 million this year, which will impact on those who receive care. This is because more older and disabled people are living longer and with increasingly complex support needs.'
Ms Willcox urged the government to tackle 'the chronic underfunding of adult social care'.
Independent Age head of policy Andrew Kaye said: 'It is disturbing that three quarters of directors of adult social services believe that care providers are facing financial difficulties. But what is really unsettling for older people and their families is the news that more than two in three social services chiefs now believe quality in care services may be suffering too.'
A government spokesperson said an additional £2 billion had already been invested in the health and care system to relieve short-term pressures.
In other news