Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 73
As well as the desperate human impact on those needing, receiving, and providing care, the...
Recommendation
As well as the desperate human impact on those needing, receiving, and providing care, the underfunding of adult social care has led to many councils having to cut other public services in order to do their best to meet their care duties. The Government should address three core issues to improve the sustainability of Long-term funding of adult social care 75 adult social care funding: the balance of funding sources, long-term planning and forecasting, and geographical distribution.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government restates its commitment to the 10-year vision for adult social care set out in the People at the Heart of Care white paper and highlights actions being taken over the next two years to take the next step toward person-centred care.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
73
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
The proposed Health and Social Care Levy has been repealed since the publication of the Committee’s report. Instead, the government is making available more funding for adult social care through general taxation and increased Council Tax flexibilities. As set out in response to Conclusion 3, the Autumn Statement made available up to £7.5 billion of additional funding over two years to support adult social care and discharge - with up to £2.8 billion available in 2023–24 and up to £4.7 billion in 2024–25. This historic funding boost is on top of the funding originally announced at Spending Review 2021 and will put the adult social care system on a stronger financial footing for the long-term, helping local authorities to address waiting lists, low fee rates, and workforce pressures in the sector. This includes £1 billion of new grant funding in 2023–24 and £1.7 billion in 2024–25 and further flexibility for local authorities on Council Tax. This includes £600 million in 2023–24 and £1 billion in 2024–25 to support discharge from hospital into adult social care, including fast access to domiciliary care and home-based reablement. Reducing delayed discharges frees up hospital capacity and ensures patients can be discharged home or to other appropriate settings, with the right care and support to help their recovery. Addressing this issue requires a coordinated approach across health and social care systems locally. Funding will be split between local authorities and NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) and pooled through the Better Care Fund (BCF) to deliver an integrated plan to reducing delayed discharges and improving collaboration and information sharing across health and social care services. The government is also taking specific action to improve access to adult social care by expanding capacity in the care sector through increased funding, workforce recruitment assistance and support for volunteers. The new grant funding announced at the Autumn Statement also includes the creation of the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF), where an additional £400 million of ringfenced funding for adult social care will be made available to local authorities in 2023–24, and £683m in 2024–25. This will be combined with £162 million of Fair Cost of Care funding in both years, to total £1.4 billion (£562 million in 2023–24 and £845m in 2024–25). Local authorities will have flexibility to use this funding to drive tangible improvements to adult social care across several areas; to address discharge delays, social care waiting times, low fee rates, workforce pressures, and to promote technological innovation in the sector. We published more detail on the purpose and high-level grant conditions for MSIF in an explanatory note1 alongside the final local government finance settlement (LGFS) on 6 February 2023.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗