Councillor questions PM’s social care support plans
A senior Sunderland councillor has questioned the levels of support for the social care sector announced by Boris Johnson and plans to raise National Insurance to pay for it.
While the City Council’s Cabinet has welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of extra funding for the Health and Social Care Sector, Cabinet Secretary Coun Paul Stewart says he is ‘disappointed’ with the level of support, wherethemoneywouldinitiallybespentandthewaythatthe changes will be funded.
The plans were set out by the Prime Minister in Parliament on Tuesday, September
7,andweredebatedbyMPslast Wednesday.
Mr Johnson has opted to raise National Insurance by 1.25 percentage points from
April 2022. The Government hopesthiswillprovideanextra £12 billion a year for the NHS and adult social care services.
"Adult Social Care is a key part of the services that we deliver as a council, with a total annual budget for the current financial year of £163.358million,” said Cllr Stewart.
"We have repeatedly highlightedthefinancialchallenges for Sunderland, and all councils, in delivering the highquality services our clients deserve – the quality of which in Sunderland has been confirmed by the Care Quality Commission.
"However, the financial position is worsening each year following more than a decade of austerity and funding cuts.
The council had been hit hard by years of budget cuts, he said.
"Adjusted for inflation, we have lost over one third of our CoreSpendingPower,whichis the Government’s own measure of how much we have to spend on vital council services,” he said.
"The reduction in funding provided by Government is much higher than that – more than half has been lost in the last decade.
"On the face of it, the announcementyesterdayisgood news. But as is often the case, whenthedetailislookedat,the position is less positive.
"Mostofthefundinginitiallywillbenefitthehealthsector rather than social care. The supportthatwillbegiventoindividuals – while welcome – is likely to see our costs increase as a council.
"Weareyettoseehowcouncils will be funded for these changes and the proposed additional funding for the sector falls well short of what we estimate we will need to maintain services.”