There is “growing concern that problems around long-term funding for adult social care are becoming more acute”, according to Unison’s senior national officer for social care.
Giving evidence to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, Gavin Edwards said that Freedom of Information requests had identified a social care shortfall of £2.4bn in 2022/23 and £2.3bn in 2023/24 for councils in England.
“There is definitely a deepening of those problems. Because adult social care is such a big part of the revenue spending of so many councils, there is only one effect that is going to have – cuts in spending on adult social care,” he told MPs on the committee.
Edwards said Unison had seen an increase in enquiries from its members on staffing shortages, which was impacting the quality of care.
He criticised some of the short-term funding available to support social care through funds in areas such as infection control and recruitment and retention.
“These are significant pots of money that are coming in on a short-term basis. I don’t think that allows councils to plan ahead. This is a vital public service that we are talking about, and councils should be able to plan ahead in terms of what the offer is going to be on social care.”
—————
FREE weekly newsletters
Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters
Room151 LinkedIn Community
Join here
Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address
Room151 Webinars
Visit the Room151 channel
