Social care shortfall risks becoming a 'tax burden' on future generations

Think tank London Councils has estimated that the social care funding gap in the capital alone will be at least £907m by 2017/18, as detailed in a new report.

Calling on the Government to address the issue through increased funding allocations, the report, supported by Ernst and Young, finds that local authorities in London currently spend approximately 33 per cent of their budget on adult social care services, with the demographic pressures of ageing meaning the situation is not likely to improve.

The report states: “Adult social care is one of the largest spend areas for local authorities across the country. However, adult social care budgets have not kept pace with the growing demand for social care services.

“Demographic changes have been a key driver for reform in the sector. Demand in the adult social care sector is expected to increase over the coming years. It is projected that there will be an increase in demand among 18–64 year-olds with disabilities and also an increase in the very elderly as more people than ever are living beyond 85.”

Care, support and affordable home provider Family Mosaic are among those to announce their alarm on this pressing issue, despite the Government’s on-going reassurances that the care sector will be reformed within this Parliament.

Chief executive Brendan Sarsfield comments: “Politicians of all parties are ignoring the long term consequences of an ageing population and the tax burden this will place on future generations. The country needs to agree the quality of the care it wants to provide and then how to fund it. What we are doing at the moment is deciding how much money we want to spend and then trying to squeeze everyone into that service. Of course efficiencies and economies are important but I don’t think we are building a care system we can be proud of.”

London Councils’ report also focuses on the Government’s failure to meet the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission, which advised that a cap on individual care costs was necessary to set a benchmark for the sector. Although there have been rumours that the Coalition is due to announce a cap of £75,000, uncertainty over the issue is causing a great deal of anxiety within a sector that, as former government advisor on care reform Lord Sutherland states “has seen successive governments fail”.

Martin Green, chief executive of the (ECCA), comments: “I welcome the Coalition commitment to establishing a cap on care costs in line with the proposals in the Dilnot Commission, and the announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister that some of these elements will be contained in the draft Care and Support Bill. However, we need to know what the level of the cap will be, when it will be implemented, and also when the Government intends to increase the amount of money needed now for long-term care.

“The care and support system is in crisis and not only does it need the Government to develop a long-term solution, but it also needs a cash injection of about £2.5 billion to meet current needs”

Further objectives that are central to the think tank’s vision include: the complete integration of health and social care services; the implementation of alternative delivery models to lessen the dependency on in-house services; and a more disciplined approach within local councils towards the procurement of goods and services.

The report also advises that the social care sector would benefit from new data protection regulation, to allow for information to be shared more effectively between health providers, as well as the removal of tariff-based payment models and target-based service objectives.

Should the London Councils’ recommendations be fully implemented, the report estimates that local authorities can save between £240m and £735m.

In conclusion: “This report shows that there are a number of potential options still open to local authorities to explore in order to achieve savings while maintaining or increasing outcomes for service users. However, it also shows that even if it were possible to exploit the savings from each option to the full, there would still be a funding gap in adult social care.”

“It is therefore imperative that government not only supports local Government to develop these options, but that it also renews its efforts to find a sustainable and fair solution to ensure that there is adequate funding for adult social care over the longer-term.”