Care sector reacts to £2 billion budget to tackle social care crisis

Earlier today Chancellor Philip Hammond promised £2 billion over three years in extra social care funding in England as he delivered his first Budget.

Here we catch up on some reaction from the sector.
 
Richard Kramer, Deputy CEO of disability charity Sense, said: “There will be a sigh of relief amongst the social care sector, as the Government finally responds to its cries for help with a promise to invest the funds it desperately needs right now. The Government’s plans will abate the pressing financial woes currently threatening to overwhelm the system and will offer short-term stabilisation. However, the reality is that money alone is not enough to save social care from collapse and the future of these essential services hinges on the development of a long-term strategy.”

Jill DeBene, chief executive of the Institute of Healthcare Management (IHM), said: “The IHM has warned the Government it must act urgently to address an NHS that is fast facing Armageddon. Given the catastrophic effect that slashes to social care have had on the NHS, we actively welcome the new funding pledges, which hit many of the hot spots the system is struggling with. £2 billion for social care, albeit over three years, is a step forward, and a new focus on primary-care led triage should help alleviate the winter pressures on emergency departments. The capital funding for pioneer sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) is a surprise, but nevertheless a very welcome one.

“However, it would be a travesty if these additional funds simply end up delivering more of the same. Through the STPs, however slowly and imperfectly, the NHS, local Government and their partners are beginning to rebuild the health and care system around the needs of patients and communities, rather than institutions and bureaucracies. An unexpected £325 million to accelerate their progress, along with a promised Green Paper on the future funding of social care are positive steps.”

Dan Scorer, Head of Policy at learning disability charity Mencap, said: “The government’s long overdue recognition of the crisis in social care is welcome. The additional funding announced today will offer some stability as the government moves to consult on future funding options later this year. However, £4.6bn has been taken out of social care funding in the last six years, with people facing cuts to support and services. Future funding arrangements must be sustainable and sufficient to meet projected needs of disabled people in years to come.
 
“The Chancellor has failed to take this final chance to halt a deeply damaging cut to Employment and Support Allowance due to come in from April, stripping disabled people assessed as unable to work of £30 per week. This will only push disabled people further away from work by creating hardship and insecurity, damaging the government’s stated aim of halving the disability employment gap.”

Andrew McCracken from National Voices, a coalition of health and care charities, said: “Today’s announcements will buy some time for the social care system. They are not a long-term fix; that nettle still needs to be grasped. The current situation remains unacceptable and untenable. We are faced with a long-foreseen structural crisis based on a failure to order services around people’s chronic care needs. We look forward to the Government’s planned green paper on social care funding. Failure to tackle this will continue to sell people short on their health and wellbeing, and will further crush the care system with rising emergency demand.”

Chris Ham, chief executive of the King’s Fund, said: “The additional money announced today is welcome recognition of the huge pressures facing social care. It will provide some short-term relief for older and disabled people, families and carers who are being let down by the current system. The plan to publish a Green Paper on the future of social care funding is encouraging, but we have been here before. This time, the Government must break the mould and deliver the radical reforms that are so badly needed.

“A starting point for this should be the report of the Barker Commission, which recommends a new settlement for health and social care and a single budget to put them both on a sustainable footing for the future. This will need to be funded by reforms to existing benefits paid to older people, increases in national insurance and changes to taxation.”

Dot Gibson, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), said: “For many older people and their families who are struggling with the confusing social care system, the extra funding announced today will be seen as little more than a sticking plaster on the crisis. The additional £2bn from the Chancellor won’t reverse the £5bn cut that the service has suffered since 2010, it won’t give services to the 1.2 million people who have been rationed out of the system and it won’t ease the burden on millions of unpaid older carers who are working 24/7 to look after their loved ones.

“Local councils will struggle to meet rising demands and self-funders will face rising care home bills. No other part of the health service is funded by individuals and their families, rather than by society as a whole. It’s time for a tax-funded social care system that’s fair, shares the cost and risk across everyone and gives dignity to those who need looking after in their later years.”

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The Government is finally waking up to the social care crisis. Extra money is welcome, but it doesn’t even come close to making up for the funding cut since 2010 and won’t stop extreme rationing of care.”

Professor Martin Green OBE Chief Executive for Care England said: “The Chancellor’s Spring Budget has quite rightly acknowledged the precarious state of adult social care.  Whilst the £2 billion additional funding over three years for adult social care is welcome it will only be an efficient use of tax payers money should the Green Paper on Adult Social Care deliver the reforms that are necessary to put the system on a stable footing”.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “The commitment to tackle social care funding is welcome. But eligibility for funding must be addressed by the Green Paper so people with dementia aren’t impoverished by their condition.”

Vic Raynor, executive director of the National Care Forum said: “The very strong link in the budget to increased funding to reduce delayed discharge of older people will be of great concern, with the budget statement appearing not to recognise the much broader social care responsibilities of authorities towards people with learning disabilities, and indeed to prevention.”

Dr Rhidian Hughes chief executive of the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) said: “Government has woken up to the care crisis facing the country. But let us be under no illusion that huge issues continue to face people who rely on social care services. Unmet need is rising as fewer and fewer people are eligible for services, while some commissioners are also failing to meet statutory duties under the Care Act.”

Jonathan Bruce, Managing Director of Prestige Nursing + Care, commented: “After the government woefully neglected the social care crisis in the last Autumn Statement, today’s intervention – while long overdue – continues to fall short of what is needed and will ultimately do little to ease the crisis. £2bn in additional funding over three years marks a significant improvement on the previous plan to raise the Council tax precepts by 5%, yet with only £1bn available in 2017/2018, it is a case of too little, too late. Despite the government’s claims, social care spending has fallen in real terms since 2010* and with demand projected to rise, an additional £2bn is quite simply not enough to alleviate the distress facing a growing number of families across the UK.”