More Cuts in Social Care

Friday, 30th June 2017

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) have warned that despite the additional £1bn promised social care in the recent Budget and a 5% increase in spending on last year, the sector would still be left having to make savings in the region of £824m in the next financial year.

ADASS said that they anticipate that around £20.8bn would be spent on care but that with steadily rising demand the sector is still underfunded and further cuts were unavoidable.

Having consulted around 150 council care chiefs regarding their future financial plans, it was found that although improvements to efficiency would help meet some of the shortfall, service users – both in care of in their own homes – should anticipate the services they require to be rationed further.

Over 1m people rely on council care services, two-thirds of them older people.

ADASS said the cuts will impact the more than a million people – two-thirds of whom are elderly – who depend on care services provided by their local council. Cuts are likely to mean that visits are shorter, options are fewer and some people will be denied assistance altogether. In addition, some charges are likely to rise. It is also unlikely that companies who operate care homes and services will escape the impact of cuts.

Over £6bn of savings have been made to social care since the coalition came to power in 2010. Nearly three-quarters of directors of adult social services surveyed said they expected the situation to get worse in the next twelve months.ADASS president Margaret Wilcox said the system remained on a "cliff edge” and "The need for a long-term solution has never been more urgent or vital.”

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which rely on care services to get the frail out of hospital, predicted a "very difficult" winter.