Council tax hike could leave poorest without social care and ‘living a squalid life’

Hiking up council tax bills to cover the social care funding black hole will increase the postcode lottery in provision, Theresa May was warned amid speculation she will back steep rises in the levy.

Experts have issued fresh warnings that the straining system could “topple over at any moment” leaving the poorest “living a squalid life”.

The Prime Minister is reportedly preparing to allow tax precepts to be increased so local councils, which have suffered reductions in government grants totalling more than 40% since 2010, can claw in extra cash to cover the spiralling social care costs.

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents care home providers, told The Times: “The whole thing could topple over at any moment and those who are poor and vulnerable will suffer most.”

Andrea Sutcliffe (pictured), the chief inspector for adult social care, told the newspaper: “The system is approaching a tipping point. We’ve got increased demand and potentially a restriction on capacity.

“Unless we really get to grips with some of these problems… we will get to an absolute crisis.”

Labour’s Lord Lipsey, who was involved in a Royal Commission on elderly care funding in the 1990s, added: “There could be mass closures of care homes.

“There’s a danger that poor people in poor areas will end up without care, living a squalid life. There could be care black spots because the homes that are reliant on state funding will become unsustainable.”

Former chancellor George Osborne introduced a 2% precept to pay for care for the elderly and disabled.

Town halls have warned that even if every council imposed the maximum extra levy, social care would still face a funding gap of at least £2.6 billion by 2020.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Health Norman Lamb said: “This is dreadful crisis management from the Conservatives.

“They are lurching from crisis to crisis and this is yet another desperate sticking plaster solution which falls short of what is needed.

“Making councils bear all the burden will increase the postcode lottery which already exists.

“It will mean that wealthy parts of the country will find it easier to meet rising demand whilst those areas where council tax raises less money will be left struggling.

“The Government must be held to account for the consequences of leaving more and more people without the care they desperately need.”

Shadow social care minister Barbara Keeley said: “There is a crisis in the funding of social care caused by savage Tory cuts to the budgets of local councils – £4.6 billion has been cut from adult social care since 2010, meaning 400,000 fewer people now have publicly funded care.

“The right solution would be for Theresa May to admit the Tories have got it wrong and deliver the needed funding for social care. Asking taxpayers and councils to pick up the bill for the Tories’ failure is no substitute for a proper plan.

“It is time for Tory ministers to deal with the crisis they have created in funding social care and to develop a sustainable way of funding the social care on which vulnerable and frail older people depend.”

Calls for cash injection with social care system ‘at tipping point’

Ministers have discussed with local authorities hiking council tax bills to fill the social care funding black hole, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.

LGA community and wellbeing board chair Izzi Seccombe said ministers have held dialogue about allowing tax precepts to be increased so local authorities, which have suffered reductions in government grants totalling more than 40% since 2010, can claw in extra cash to cover spiralling social care costs.

The Conservative councillor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve had some dialogue with ministers about this and the concern for us is the ability for this to actually fill the gap that we have for long now said that there is in social care.”

Former chancellor George Osborne introduced a 2% precept to pay for care for the elderly and disabled which will raise £380 million this year.

But several figures said it was not enough, with the LGA warning the higher minimum wage is costing councils £600 million.

The Government has also been warned that any increase would favour richer areas with a higher tax base, creating a “postcode lottery”.

“We need an injection now, we need £1.3 billion now because there is a shortfall by the end of 2020 of £2.6 billion,” Ms Seccombe said.

Tory former health secretary Stephen Dorrell said he was in favour of a hike in the precept as a step in the right direction but warned that “people will suffer” without wider change.

Suggesting the Government was facing a crisis that is developing “out of control”, he told Today: “What we need to look to do is to have a review of the funding of the whole of the health and care system.

“Because what we’re talking about this morning is a cash shortage that is threatening the stability not just of local government, but of the National Health Service.

“And unless we address this seriously we simply see a developing failure of service across the range of local public services and people will suffer as a consequence of that failure.”

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents care home providers said there were “serious problems” about how money raised from the precept reaches the frontline.

He said the care sector was now at a “tipping point”, telling the programme: “We saw some research recently which said that about 40% of care services will no longer be viable in the medium term, so this is a huge number of care services that will be lost.”

Asked if care companies will go bankrupt, he replied: “Oh definitely.”

Mr Green said that would mean care homes closing and a shortage of beds for those that need them.

He said: “When you look at the dependency levels of people in care homes, the only other place they can be is in the NHS – well we all know the NHS is at breaking point, so the Government needs to have a clear strategy on social care and if they don’t there will be a crisis right across both health and social care.”

Shadow social care minister Barbara Keeley said: “There is a crisis in the funding of social care caused by savage Tory cuts to the budgets of local councils – £4.6 billion has been cut from adult social care since 2010, meaning 400,000 fewer people now have publicly funded care.

“The right solution would be for Theresa May to admit the Tories have got it wrong and deliver the needed funding for social care. Asking taxpayers and councils to pick up the bill for the Tories’ failure is no substitute for a proper plan.”

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: “This is dreadful crisis management from the Conservatives.

“They are lurching from crisis to crisis and this is yet another desperate sticking plaster solution which falls short of what is needed.

“Making councils bear all the burden will increase the postcode lottery which already exists.

“It will mean that wealthy parts of the country will find it easier to meet rising demand whilst those areas where council tax raises less money will be left struggling.

“The Government must be held to account for the consequences of leaving more and more people without the care they desperately need.”

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