Councils call for ‘sustainable’ adult social care funding

The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for long-term ‘sustainable funding’ for adult social care.

In the wake of the announcement of the local government finance settlement yesterday, the LGA said the Better Care Fund (BCF) failed to address the challenges facing councils and clinical commission groups in 2015/16.

The BCF – formerly the Integration Transformation Fund – was announced in the June 2013 Spending Round as a pooled budget for health and social care services, shared between the NHS and local authorities.

But the LGA said the BCF brought together local government and NHS resources that were ‘already committed to existing activity’.

A LGA briefing also pointed out the BCF was included within NHS departmental expenditure limits so it ‘could be regarded as double counting’.

The briefing read: ‘We need sustainable funding for adult social care both for now and in the longer-term in order to make the most of the BCF.’