£650m short-term ‘fix’ for social care

TOWN halls will receive an extra £650million to tackle the social care crisis, while another £45million will go to English councils to improve disabled services.

But campaigners said the extra money was little more than a ‘sticking plaster’ that would only just avert ‘total collapse’.

Charities had written to Philip Hammond to demand an extra £2.5billion just to keep social care services at current levels.

Yesterday, the Chancellor said he would announce a longer-term funding plan for social care in the spring although £650million would be available in the short term.

This forthcoming Green Paper would set out ‘difficult choices’ for making the system sustainable, Mr Hammond said.

‘But I recognise the immediate pressures local authorities face in respect of social care,’ he said.

‘So today, building on the £240million for social care winter pressures announced earlier this month, I will make available a further £650million of grant funding for English authorities for 2019/20 and an additional £45million for the Disabled Facilities Grant in England in 2018/19.’

Alzheimer’s Society chief executive Jeremy Hughes said: ‘£650million to prop up the broken social care system only just staves off total collapse. It does nothing for people with dementia who are footing the bill themselves, while people with other diseases are getting free support.’

Jan Shortt, of the National Pensioners Convention, said: ‘The promise of an additional £650million is at least £2billion short of what’s needed just to stand still.

‘Talk of economic growth and the end of austerity are pretty meaningless if you’re relying on the social care system.’

Niall Dickson, of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘ Social care remains the Achilles heel. The extra funding announced today is inadequate. What we needed was support to get the system back on its feet, but what we have is yet another sticking plaster.’