Social care funding is in crisis, warn experts, as a report shows 81% of councils expect to overspend their adult social care budgets this year.
This is up from 72% in 2023/24, with an estimated overspend on adult social care at £564 million, according to a survey from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care Services (ADASS) published today (7 November).
ADASS president Melanie Williams described the financial situation as being ‘at breaking point’.
The report showed that 35% of councils – up from 19% in 2022 – were required to make further in-year savings on top of planned reductions, which were already at the highest level in eight years.
There is a projected increase to £1.4 billion in required savings by 2025/26, the report said.
Ms Williams said the increases in national insurance contributions (NIC) and national living wage (NLW) announced in the autumn Budget last week would add further pressure.
She said the £600 million investment into social care also announced in the Budget would do little to help, as the money would be needed to fund NIC and NLW rises.
‘This crisis is affecting councils up and down the country because budgets don’t reflect the cost of care and support for disabled and older people. The Government know that to fix the NHS, they must sort social care. We need reform, but right now, they must fully fund the increases in national living wage to keep the system afloat,’ said Ms Williams.
Sarah Walter, director of the NHS Confederation’s Integrated Care Systems Network (ICS), said the findings of the ADASS survey would be particularly worrying for ICSs working in partnership with local government.
She pointed to a recent NHS Confederation report, which found that over three-quarters of ICB and ICP chairs were concerned financial challenges in the NHS and local government would impact their ability to deliver on their ambitions and negatively impact partnership working.
‘Social care is a critical part of getting patients out of hospital and keeping patients well at home. So any worsening of council budgets could lead to further bottlenecks at the back door of hospitals, which makes it harder for A&E to admit patients to wards and can create long ambulance handover delays,’ said Ms Walter.
She said the Government must commit to funding and delivering a workforce plan for the social care sector that would work alongside plans for the NHS.
Isabel Lawicka, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, agreed.
She said: ‘The NHS and social care are two sides of the same coin. As the national direction of travel shifts towards the delivery of a ‘neighbourhood health service’ it is vital that we have a well-functioning, sustainable social care sector to work hand in hand with the NHS and wider system partners, delivering high quality care for all those who need it.’
The ADASS annual survey was sent to every director of adult social services in the 153 English councils with social care responsibilities and had a response rate of 86%.
