“Another Budget, another missed opportunity for social care”: Charity frustration at lack of long term funding solution for social care
Hft, a national charity that supports adults with learning disabilities, has expressed its frustration at the lack of a long term social care funding solution in today’s Autumn Budget.
Ahead of the Chancellor’s statement, the charity had called for plans on the future of social care funding to be announced in the Budget, ahead of the publication of the long-awaited social care green paper.
Robert Longley-Cook, Chief Executive of Hft, commented: “The crisis facing social care is happening now. Once again, we have seen another budget and another missed opportunity for social care. The £650 million in 2019-20 is nowhere near the £1.5billion deficit we are facing right now as a sector and like the £240 million winter payment before, it is at best only a short term solution to a long term crisis.
“Hft’s own independent research shows that the number of providers in the sector running at a deficit has more than trebled from 11% to 34% over the past year. Reports by the National Audit Office, CQC, the Local Government Association and many others warn of unsustainable rates paid by local authorities and the impact this is having on providers’ capacities to both recruit and retain staff, and to continue providing high-quality, person-centred support.
“These repeated warnings appear to have fallen on deaf ears. At a time when we are facing financial pressures on multiple fronts, urgent action on future funding plans was needed to bring much-needed reassurance and stability to the sector.
“However, we also know that the challenges facing the social care sector should be about more than just funding. 89% of providers told us that they do not believe that the current model of social care delivers the best outcomes for the people we support. Given the Chancellor’s failure to address any of these critical issues in his Autumn Statement, our concern is that the debate around the green paper now focus on issues solely of funding, rather than debating how we deliver best health and life outcomes for those vulnerable adults supported by the sector.”
