Councils will have access to extra £1bn for social care next year
Authorities will be able to access a £300 million social care grant and have the option to levy a 3% adult social care precept.
Local authorities will have access to an extra £1 billion to help them fund social care and address coronavirus pressures next year, the Government has said.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said investment in public services will allow councils to increase core spending by 4.5%, and they will have extra flexibility to increase council tax and social care precepts.
Councils will be able to access over £1 billion of spending for social care through a £300 million social care grant and the option to levy a 3% adult social care precept.
Local authorities will be able to increase council tax bills by 2% without needing a referendum.
This funding is in addition to the £1 billion social care grant announced last year which is being maintained.
The Government expects to provide local authorities with more than £3 billion to address Covid-19 pressures, including in adult social care.
Ministers said this will help councils maintain care services “while keeping up with rising demand and recovering from the impact of Covid-19”.
It will bring forward proposals for the long-term reform of the adult social care system next year.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK and co-chair of the CSA (Care and Support Alliance) said the funding was “insufficient” to safeguard current levels of services into next year.
The Government’s decisions on social care make it “hard not to conclude we’ve gone backwards”, she added.
She said: “Against the context of the pandemic, which is both driving up the level of need, and weakening the finances of providers, this is a decidedly reckless approach.
“Local authorities are once again being asked to square an impossible circle and this ungenerous settlement does very little to help the NHS either.
“However, it’s older and disabled people, and their families and carers, who will as ever pay the biggest price, with more likely to have to manage without the support they need.
“This is a bitter pill to swallow, especially after everything social care has been through this year.”
