Oxfordshire County Council calls on the government to review adult social care funding following report by County Councils Network
Oxfordshire County Council is calling on the government to review its funding allocations for adult social care, following publication of the County Councils Network (CCN) and LaingBuisson’s review into the cost of care.
The report looks at the government’s planned Fair Cost of Care levy and associated fund, which aims to enable people who self-fund their care to ask councils to arrange care on their behalf at the lower local authority rates. The levy also looks to increase care fees paid by councils where necessary to make the care market sustainable.
The report estimates that, nationally, an extra £854 million is needed in the allocation fund each year to make care sustainable and avoid large-scale closures and ensure ongoing investment into the social care sector.
Councillor Calum Miller, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “This important report from the CCN outlines the alarming financial shortfall local authorities and care providers are facing as the demands upon adult social care continue to rise. Our region is expected to be one of the hardest hit.
“Oxfordshire County Council is in the frontline of this challenge. Unless we see urgent action from the government we could see a real hit to the services we provide for some of our most vulnerable residents.
“We welcomed the government’s ambition to put adult social care funding on a fairer and more stable footing. But – having raised £12 billion a year for through the new national insurance levy – government needs to use this money as it was intended. We support the CCN in calling on the government to urgently review adult social care funding so that, working with local providers, we can continue to provide high-quality social care to those who need it while funding other council services.”
Councillor Jenny Hannaby, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said: “Everyone should be able to live the lives they want to lead, and for some people, this means accessing additional care and support.
“I was therefore troubled to hear of the sheer scale of the financial shortfall that adult social care services across the country are facing.
“Without a review into the funding allocation by the government, this shortfall could have a serious impact on how we, and many other authorities, provide care and support to those who need it most, which we certainly do not want.”
Currently, the government has allocated £378 million to local authorities to pay the new Fair Cost of Care levy for care home placements annually. The payment aims to protect providers from revenue losses when private fee payers become eligible to ask their local authority to arrange their care - October 2023.
The report is available to read in full on the CCN website.
More information
Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund was announced in December 2021. It is designed to address the impact of the government’s aim to allow more people who fund their own care to pay the lower rates that councils can access from 2023, as well as under-investment in care.
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