By Kit Sandeman, Local Democracy Reporter
Councils are still waiting to hear the long-term plan for the future of social care after Central Government delayed the release of a long-awaited plan.
The Social Care Green Paper is expected to set out a range of policies for how social care will be run and funded in coming years.
Faced with increasing demand and decreasing budgets, many councils are spending a higher percentage of their budget on social care.
The green paper, which will be issued by Central Government, was expected to be released this month but, on Monday, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Jeremy Hunt announced it would be delayed until the autumn.
He also said full funding plans would not be in place until autumn 2019, when the comprehensive spending review is finalised.
Hunt said his department needed to know more about how the additional £20m funding – recently announced by Theresa May for the NHS – would be distributed before it could release the green paper.
Nottingham City Council has said the delay has ‘kicked the issue down the road’ and leaves councils ‘in the dark’ when trying to set their budgets.
Deputy council leader Councillor Graham Chapman said his council has been left in the dark while trying to set budgets for one of its largest and most-important services.
He said: “Adult social care and looking after vulnerable people now accounts for 60 per cent of the council’s overall budget at a time when the main Government funding has reduced from £126m five years ago to just £35m this year.
“An adult social care precept of three percent on council tax will raise £3m in Nottingham – but £20m extra is needed this year and next to deal with the extra demand for social care.
“Central Government is presiding over a crisis in social care with funding going down while demand is going up.
“This latest example of Government inaction will make it even harder than it already is for councils to plan their budgets and ultimately will end up costing the NHS more and hit elderly, vulnerable people with more bed blocking and other problems.
“Central Government continues to fail to recognise that proper investment in social care will provide a saving for the NHS – it costs £350 a week for council care at home but £2,150 a week for care in an NHS bed.
“It should give greater priority to social care rather than kicking the problem down the road and leaving councils with insufficient funds to pick up the pieces.”
Speaking on Monday in the House of Commons, the Conservative Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “As part of the NHS plan we will review the current functioning and structure of the Better Care Fund to make sure it supports this.
“While the long term funding profile of the social care system will not be settled until the spending review, we will publish the social care green paper ahead of that.
“However because we want to integrate plans for social care with the new NHS plan it does not make sense to publish it before the NHS plan has even been drafted.
“We now intend to publish the social care green paper in the autumn around the same time as the NHS plan.”
