Adult social care leaders have called on the Chancellor to provide greater support for local authorities after a new focus on preventative public spending was revealed in his budget but little immediate detail on funding for care reform.
John Healey announced plans for a new ring-fenced category of preventative departmental spending ahead of the 2027 Spending Review, as part of a wider shift towards a more "devolved, preventative and productive state" in the first budget under Andy Burnham’s leadership.
He also confirmed a 3.9 per cent rise in National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates and a permanent increase in tax-free mileage rates for employees using their own vehicles for work.
Care England chief executive Professor Martin Green OBE said councils must be properly funded if the government's ambitions for prevention and growth are to be achieved.
"The Chancellor said he wants to invest in preventative measures and allow businesses to expand," said Green. "Local authorities must be properly empowered to make these ambitions a reality; however, this budget makes little difference to improving the state of adult social care services in this Parliament."
Professor Green warned that higher wage costs would place additional pressure on local authority-funded care services.
"Whilst some measures will be positive for workers in the care sector, such as increases to the Living Wage, the increases in local government core funding power will not leave enough headroom to pay for these increases and also account for the growth needed in the sector to meet increasing demand for social care," he said.
Prevention welcomed but questions remain
The King's Fund director of policy, events and partnerships Siva Anandaciva said the new prevention spending framework had the potential to be "genuinely transformational" for health and care services. He also welcomed higher mileage rates for care workers and changes to carers' support.
However, he added the Budget contained "little concrete detail" on how the government's wider social care reform ambitions would be delivered.
Meanwhile, Local Government Association chair Cllr Eamonn O'Brien warned that without greater financial support, councils would continue to struggle to meet growing demand and deliver local services.
