Time to act on growing social care crisis, says council chief
ADULT social care is in a state of crisis, the chief executive of Sefton Council has warned.
Margaret Carney issued the stark warning as part of a call for serious and long-term planning over the funding of social care.
The council already spends 40% of its budget on social care, but demand is expected to rise significantly at a time when council budgets are shrinking.
Ms Carney is backing a consultation being held by the Local Government Association, which wants to explore ideas to solve the problem of funding social care.
These include increasing income tax for taxpayers of all ages, increasing national insurance, a social care premium for over-40s and working pensioners, means-tested universal benefits such as winter fuel allowance and free TV licences, or allowing councils to increase council tax.
According to the LGA, since 2010 councils in England have had to bridge a £6bn funding shortfall to keep the adult social care system going and face a £3.5bn funding gap by 2025 just to maintain existing standards of care.
She said: “I expect that most us hope that we will never need adult social care, but in fact about one in five of us will at some point in our lives.
“I also wanted to make it clear that adult social care isn’t just about when you get older and frailer.
“We support a lot of people in our communities – those people with mental health conditions; those people who have physical disabilities; and, of course, their carers, who we rely on significantly.”
“Funding from adult social care comes from your council tax and also comes from people themselves who can afford to make a contribution to their care.
“Over the next 10 years we’re likely to see a significantly increased demand for social care and at the same time our budgets are decreasing.
“So we think it’s time to have a grown-up conversation about the future funding of social care, just how important it is and how we, as a community, can come together to make sure that people who need social care are properly provided for in our communities.”