Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted
Paragraph: 93
Local authorities face acute financial pressures for adult social care, requiring sustainable funding increases.
Conclusion
While the additional funding announced in Autumn Statement 2022 has provided some brief respite for local authorities facing particularly acute pressures, a consistent and sustainable increase in funding is required. We have heard evidence of ongoing concerns about the continuing cost and demand pressures affecting adult social care. The absence of any additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement 2023, and the prospect of future real terms funding cuts, has exacerbated those concerns.
Government Response Summary
The government details significant additional funding of up to £8.6 billion over two years and £1.5 billion in grant increases for 2024-25 for adult social care, arguing this addresses the pressures and enables local authorities to improve services.
Paragraph Reference:
93
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
22. The Government has recognised the pressures in adult social care and has made available up to £8.6 billion of additional funding over two years to support social care and discharge. This additional funding includes significant increases in dedicated grant funding for social care such as the £500 million announced in January, which has specifically been made available to support local authorities with the cost of social care in 2024-25, in response to the feedback the Government received on the provisional settlement. 23. The final Settlement for 2024-25 provides over £1.5 billion in additional grant for social care through the Settlement for 2024-25 compared to 2023-24. This includes: • £5 billion through the Social Care Grant, a £1.2 billion increase on 2023-24; • £1.1 billion through the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund, a £123 million increase on 2023-24; • £500 million through the Discharge Fund, a £200 million increase to the local authority component on 2023-24; • £2.1 billion through the improved Better Care Fund. 24. This funding is enabling local authorities to buy more care packages, help people leave hospital on time, improve workforce recruitment and retention, and reduce waiting times for care. When providing funding for ongoing pressures – such as inflation – we have prioritised giving councils as much certainty as possible. For example, we were clear that funding for discharge and the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund were available for two years and included wording in the MSIF grant conditions to enable local authorities to provide funding for long-term measures such as pay. Sustained Government investment in adult social care has meant that public expenditure on adult social care has increased in real terms for eight consecutive years – reaching £22.9 billion in 2022-23.