Social care deficit to be tackled by up to 6% Council Tax rise

Local authorities could be set to raise council taxes by as much as 6% over the next two years to tackle the desperate under-funding of social care, according to early reports.

The social care crisis is a long-term problem, with demand outstripping resources. The funding gap – the shortfall between demand for care and the money available to pay for it – is set to reach £2.5 billion by 2020.

Dementia is now the biggest killer, and with numbers of people living with dementia set to soar to 1 million by 2021, the demand for social care is only going to rise.  70% of those living in care homes and 60% of homecare users have dementia. Alzheimer’s Society predicts that the number of people with dementia living in care homes will increase to 358,000 by 2020, with associated costs reaching £4.9 billion.

Commenting on the social care precept, Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive at Alzheimer’s Society, said:

'For a system as starved as social care, a funding boost in any form is desperately needed. Time and again, people with dementia and their families are bearing the brunt of the crisis. From the devoted daughter making a 200 mile trip to make sure her mum gets a hot meal to the 82 year old lady hospitalised with a urinary tract infection because she stopped getting support to have a shower each day.'

He continued,

'However, this is a national crisis that needs national leadership. The Government is effectively washing its hands of it by passing the buck to local Councils while providing no assurance that the money needed to fund care can be raised. With more deprived parts of the country unable to raise as much as their more affluent counterparts, the precept will widen inequalities without addressing the fundamental disconnect between the amount care costs and the amount councils have to spend on it.'

The existing 2% social care precept raised £382 million, and a 1% annual increase will provide an additional £200 million each year. However, the precept promotes considerable regional variation, with the most affluent areas potentially raising three times as much as the poorer boroughs. According to the King’s Fund, Manchester and Newham will be able to make £5 per person while Kingston upon Thames will generate £15.

Good social care means good dementia care – with few treatments and no cure, the majority of people with dementia’s needs are met through social care. Without extra funding, local authorities have been forced to tighten the eligibility criteria for social care in an attempt to balance their books. This has resulted in 500,000 fewer older and disabled people accessing care since 2010, and a knock on effect of increased emergency admissions to hospital.

SOURCE: Alzheimers Society