Labour attack over apparent social care funding move towards council tax bills

Labour says it is unfair to “dump” solving the crisis in social care funding onto council tax bills.

Shadow care minister Barbara Keeley said allowing local authorities to increase the so-called social care precept would only widen inequality between rich and poor areas, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without care.

Reports on Monday suggested the Government was considering raising the amount council tax can be increased specifically to pay for social care, from 2% to 5%.

But health minister David Mowat refused to be drawn on this, saying that quality of care matters as well as funding.

Asking an urgent question in the Commons, Ms Keeley said: “This crisis in social care has been made by this Government, due to £5 billion being cut from adult social care budgets.

“Can the minister confirm what is now reported by The Times, that the Government intends to dump this funding crisis onto local councils and council taxpayers through increasing the social care precept?”

She added: “Is it the minister’s intention to support a solution that widens inequality of access and denies social care to hundreds and thousands of vulnerable older people?”

In bad tempered exchanges, Ms Keeley (pictured) also criticised the Government for failing to give social care more funding in the Autumn Statement.

She added: “Can the care minister tell us in his response why health ministers do not stand up for vulnerable and older people in this country, and why they don’t fight harder to get extra, vital funding for social care.”

However, Mr Mowat replied that Labour’s last manifesto backed no extra local government funding.

He added: “She talked this morning about being against taxpayers and council taxpayers having to meet the increased cost of social care.

“That rather begs the question ‘who does she think should be paying for it’? It is borrowing, or is the magic money tree?”

Earlier, Mr Mowat said spending on long-term care was higher than comparable countries such as France and Germany.

While acknowledging the system was under strain, Mr Mowat pointed to the introduction of the social care precept and the better care fund, which he said would increase spending by as much as 5%in real terms by 2020.

He added that councils who better integrated health and social care had far fewer delayed transfers of patients out of hospital, while the better care fund redistributed funding between richer and poorer areas.

“Any system would benefit from higher budgets, and social care is no exception,” said Mr Mowat.

“But quality matters too. Today is not a budget statement, nor a local government settlement.”

Labour former chief whip Dame Rosie Winterton said leaving councils to find the money needed to fill the funding gap would be unfair.

She said: “I think the minister has completely missed the point raised by Ms Keeley from the frontbench about the unfairness of asking councils to deal with the problem.

“A 1% rise in council tax in Doncaster raises 21% less than a council in the Prime Minister’s constituency.

“Surely that means that the problem is being pushed on to the areas that can least afford it?”

Mr Mowat replied: “You would be right, I would have missed the point had I not said that that issue that you have raised is addressed by the way that we distribute the additional Better Care Fund which uses a formula which takes into account relative need.”

Tory former minister Justin Tomlinson urged the Government to look at the idea of increasing “flexibility” in the setting of the social care precept.

He said: “With an ageing population, the welcome introduction of the national living wage and rightly greater expectation on services provided, this is causing exponential growth in the adult social care costs far greater than can simply be found through efficiency savings.

“Whilst the council tax cap has delivered financial discipline we have to be realistic and I would urge the minister to explore further flexibility with the social care precept.”

Mr Mowat said: “Today is not a spending statement and it’s not a statement on the local government settlement either.”

Labour former leadership contender Liz Kendall said it would be a “huge mistake” for the Government to believe that the “gaping hole” in social care funding could be plugged using the social care precept alone.

Meanwhile, Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, highlighted funding differences in different geographic areas as she called for action.

She asked: “Are nans and granddads in Buckinghamshire worth more than they are in Birmingham Yardley?”

But Tory MP Stewart Jackson accused Labour of “shroud waving” on the issue.

He said: “Shroud waving by the Labour Party is particularly depressing given that they did virtually nothing on this issue in 13 years in power.”

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