Councils in England overspent their adult social care budgets by £715 million last year as rising demand, increasing care complexity, and growing pressures on community-based support continued to strain local authority finances, according to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) annual spring survey published today.
The organisation said councils will be 'hoping' that incoming prime minister Andy Burham's 'public commitment to reforming adult social care comes to fruitiion' to help them 'deal with the highest levels of social care need and cost they have faced', as its survey found that the number of people approaching councils for support increased again’, while care costs rose for a fourth consecutive year.
It said that the increasing pressures are being driven by councils having to support more adults with complex needs, including people whose care was previously funded through NHS Continuing Healthcare and increasing numbers of younger adults with mental health needs.
Association of Directors of Adult Social Services president Phil Holmes said the survey “highlights the disconnect between government ambitions for adult social care and the funding provided to deliver them.
“Councils continue to be placed under huge financial pressure, with no signs of this abating.”
Mr Holmes also warned of growing concerns around NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) eligibility and funding disputes, which he said were creating uncertainty for people who need care and support and their families, and called for national reform of the system alongside wider social care reform and sustainable investment.
Continuing healthcare concerns
NHS Continuing Healthcare - a package of care funded entirely by the NHS for adults assessed as having a ‘primary health need’ - is determined by the nature and complexity of an individual's needs rather than their diagnosis or care setting. For some older people in care homes, it can meet the full cost of their care package, meaning the responsibility for funding rests with the NHS through Integrated Care Boards rather than local authorities.
Three-quarters of directors reported an increase in the number of people presenting to adult social care services who either were, or previously would have been, eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding. ADASS said directors were concerned that some of the costs associated with supporting people with the most complex needs were increasingly falling on councils or individuals themselves.
Responding to the survey, the Local Government Association said the findings highlighted the scale of pressures facing councils despite efforts to maintain support services.
Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor MBE Chair of the Local Government Association’s Health and Wellbeing Committee said she was “alarmed” that over half (58 per cent) of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) were reducing spending on CHC, warning that this risked shifting further costs onto local authority budgets and increasing the likelihood of future overspends, and renewed calls for sustained and predictable funding for adult social care services.
Baroness Louise Casey's independent commission on adult social care is expected to publish its initial report setting out a roadmap towards a National Care Service later this year, following a 'national conversation' exercise on the funding and delivery of care to be launched this summer.
