Surrey County Council (SCC) has disclosed that it faces additional costs of between £1.2bn and £3.2bn over the next 12 years if the government goes ahead with proposed social care reforms.
The figures were revealed in a Room151 article written by Leigh Whitehouse, SCC’s deputy chief executive and executive director of resources. They represent an increased adult social care requirement for Surrey of between 27% and 65% by 2027/28, rising to between 41% and 95% by 2033/34.
Whitehouse wrote that the government’s social care reforms will place “huge additional burdens on local authorities with significantly increased costs”.
He told Room151: “From everything we have seen to date, we are of the strong opinion that the government has fundamentally failed to understand the impact of the proposed reforms on local authorities, residents and the care sector.
“We are looking at a potential doubling of our social care placement spend (at today’s prices) and of our social care workforce in order to make this policy work. It is simply untenable.”
The increased costs are mainly because of the impact of “self-funders” being able to arrange care at council rates, an increase in the workforce to manage the care and rises to the rates paid by councils as part of the government’s “Fair Cost of Care” policies.
Whitehouse’s article called for a pause in the planned October 2023 implementation date. This would be “appropriate to understand the impacts, review the proposed policies and give sufficient time for the effective rollout”.
He compared the proposed introduction of the social care changes with the government’s previous reforms involving children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The SEND reforms have required government to negotiate a number of “Safety Valve” agreements with authorities, including SCC.
According to Whitehouse’s article: “The role of a sector-destabilising policy change with insufficient funding attached, and a fog-like lack of clear information, has been quickly taken by the government’s plans in relation to adult social care.”
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