Councils demand urgent attention for adult social care on tenth anniversary of Care Act

Governments should stop treating adult social care as a political football and make a substantial long-term investment in it to mark the tenth anniversary of the Care Act 2014.

That call had come from the Local Government Association (LGA), which said that a decade on the sector was “at best kept afloat” and “periods of austerity, early recovery reliant on local taxation, and continued recovery driven by one-off injections of resources, have characterised the adult social care funding picture, hampering full delivery of the legislation”.

Among LGA members, only some two-thirds are confident of being able to meet all their legal duties under the Care Act by 2025-26 despite 80% of councils cutting other services to shore up social care.

It said in a report on the Act’s record that addressing funding pressures was essential and alongside this there should be “bold and ambitious action on prevention across health and social care”, which if done effectively had the potential to improve outcomes and reduce costs.

The NHS too often focused exclusively on its immediate challenges and saw social care only in terms of how it could support discharges.

“This can frame social care as an adjunct of the NHS when it has crucial value in its own right,” the LGA said.

It recalled that the Care Act originated in the Law Commission’s review of adult social care law and the Dilnot Commission’s inquiry into how care should be financed

Further reports had followed but the sector had continued to rely on one-off injections of resources rather than planned long-term funding programmes.

“Funding is cited time and again…as one of the central reasons why the Care Act’s aims have not been delivered in full,” the LGA said.

Public understanding of social care was limited and the usual focus of governments on the NHS when discussing ‘health and social care’ meant “a quick descent into trading blows when adult social care debates enter the national political realm.

“These factors have created conditions in which adult social care is at best kept afloat and at worst sometimes ignored.”

it said this was “the exact opposite of the conditions needed to help nurture, inspire, innovate, connect and deliver”.

Legislative change was not needed but “to really deliver the full spirit of the Act, significant additional and sustainable funding is an inevitable requirement,” the LGA said.

An immediate injection of funding “could be a downpayment on a future multi-year settlement for adult social care, and a real signal of intent by an incoming government that care and support is central to our national infrastructure”.

Ahead of a general election, the LGA said all parties should end the politicisation of adult social care, and work on a cross-party basis to secure the services future.

David Fothergill, social care spokesperson for the LGA and leader of the Conservative opposition in Somerset, said:  “The Care Act was a beacon of hope for those needing care and support but this hope has faded.

“A decade on, people are still facing long waiting times for assessments and support, and not getting the full care and support they need.”

He added: “Adult social care needs urgent attention. This must be top of the in-tray for any incoming government."

Mark Smulian