Halloween is over, but the scares keep coming for social care
Now the dust has settled on the Autumn Budget, care experts have expressed how they think the new announcements will affect the sector.
On Wednesday 30th October Rachel Reeves made history as she became the first female chancellor to deliver the government’s Autumn Budget. However, this seemed to be the only positive achievement to come from the event. In the speech, Reeves revealed Labour will be introducing a number of tax increases, stamp duty changes and cuts to the Right to Buy discount scheme.
Yet at least these problems were acknowledged by the government. Experts have long warned that in order to address the ongoing NHS crisis we need to reform social care and although councils received a £600m injection of funding to help ease the costs of care pressures, there was nothing from Labour about how the party plans to help the sector in the long term.
Since the Budget’s announcement, dozens of industry experts have expressed their views – the good, the bad and the ugly. Below are a few examples.
Lee Wood, Chief Executive officer, B&M Care
‘The Autumn Budget contained a number of significant announcements today that will have an impact on many peoples lives. With respect to social care, local government will receive additional funding worth at least £600million, although as yet it is unknown how this will spread across children’s and adult care services.
‘Without significant investment in our ageing population, the gap between the cost of delivering care and social services funding will continue to widen, putting additional pressure on the sector. We hope that the longer- term plan promised in Spring 2025 will set out how the government will support social care moving forwards.’
Dame Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive, Health Foundation
‘After more than a decade of underinvestment and short-termism, we welcome the chancellor’s commitment to a long-term approach to rebuilding the NHS and other public services.
‘The additional investment in the NHS announced today will help to stabilise services. The 3.8% average annual increase is similar to the historic average and should enable the government to make some progress on its ambitions for the NHS, though this will be limited by the costs of meeting next year’s pay settlements and other cost pressures such as the increase in employers’ National Insurance. All eyes will now turn to next year’s Spending Review and the NHS 10-year plan to move beyond stabilising services by putting the investment, reform and, crucially, the technology in place to transform the NHS.
‘The increase in capital investment is particularly welcome, with the UK having become an international outlier in its relatively low levels of capital spending, resulting in a spiralling backlog of maintenance and repairs. If the government is serious about its commitment to prevention, it should follow the changes to its fiscal rules by strengthening the fiscal framework to boost and protect prevention spending.
‘The UK’s significant working-age health challenge is shrinking the labour force and holding back economic growth. We therefore welcome signals that the government will do more to support people in ill health and move them back into work, although we will need to see the details in the government’s forthcoming white paper. In the meantime, upholding the previous government’s decision to cut disability benefits will mean fewer people will be able to access the support they need and risk pushing more people into poverty.
‘An additional £1.3bn for local government – equivalent to a 3.2% real-terms increase in core spending power in 2025/26 – is welcome and will support councils in the vital role they play in improving the health of their local populations. Given the government’s commitment to moving from treatment to prevention, a significant increase in the public health grant—which has seen a 27% real-terms cut since 2015/16—is also needed to ensure that local areas can provide the public health services that local people need.
‘Finally, while we welcome the additional £600m for social care and the reforms to Carers Allowance, the continued silence on wider social care reform is disappointing.’
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive, Care England
‘[The] Budget is a glaring missed opportunity by a government full of promises to make a real difference to adult social care and establish a sustainable funding framework that meets the gravity of our current crisis. The government’s £600million commitment to be shared between adult social care and children’s services is, unfortunately, a drop in the ocean compared to the staggering £2.4billion in rising costs associated with wage increases and employer national insurance contributions. When we see £22.6billion directed towards the NHS, it’s disheartening that social care once again receives only a fraction of the support it needs, despite its critical role in easing NHS pressures
‘Adult social care is not simply a supplementary service but a core component of our healthcare system enabling timely hospital discharges and ensuring thousands receive safe, dignified care at home or in their communities. Social care stands as a solution to many challenges facing the NHS. Yet, this Budget and this government fail to recognise its vital role. Without immediate, adequate funding, the cost of inaction will be devastating; delayed hospital discharges, overstretched providers, and vulnerable people left without the care they desperately need.
‘The reality is that without serious investment in adult social care, the government is choosing short-term savings over long-term stability. We needed a bold step forward, a signal that adult social care matters to the fabric of our society. Instead, today’s announcement leaves the sector struggling to cover basic costs, pushing it further toward a point where both capacity and access will inevitably decline. If the government truly wants to create a more resilient health and care system, it must support social care with the same commitment it shows the NHS.’
Kathryn Smith, Chief Executive, Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)
‘[The] Budget was delivered against a backdrop of inflation, demographic change, rising workforce costs, increasing demand for care and tightening local authority budgets. These have all added to the existing financial pressures the social care sector faces.
‘Whilst the NHS was afforded significant investment, in excess of £25billion, the social care sector is only due to receive £600million of new grant funding. Although investment into the sector is welcome, as recognised by the Darzi Review, the sustainability of the NHS is fundamentally interconnected with that of social care. A properly functioning and adequately resourced social care sector is vital to the success of the NHS.
‘The increase to the weekly earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance is a positive step towards improving the financial security of carers, particularly women, who form the majority of those in caregiving roles. It also enables greater flexibility for carers to balance work and care responsibilities.
‘With the 10-Year Health Plan and the Spending Review on the horizon for the Spring, the government must work with the sector to establish a roadmap for social care reform. Comprehensive and sustainable investment in social care will not only support the NHS but is crucial to achieving long-term improvements in public services, economic growth, and fiscal sustainability.
‘Getting this right is of paramount importance, not just for those who draw on care and support but for the economy as well; the value of the social care sector to our economy is immense. The adult social care sector is estimated to contribute £68.1billion to our economy annually.’
Katherine Crawford, Chief Executive, Age Scotland
‘This was a big opportunity for the chancellor and prime minister to protect the health of hundreds of thousands of low-income pensioners in Scotland, and they missed it.
‘Cutting the Winter Fuel Payment so drastically means that 85% of pensioners in Scotland living in poverty or on the poverty line will have at least £200 less in their pockets this winter as they face increasing energy bills.
‘A rise to state pension next year is welcome, and was expected, but doesn’t compensate for losing the Winter Fuel Payment and falls short of what the majority of pensioners need to get by. The bottom line is that pensioners on the lowest incomes are going to be worse off than they would have been.
‘With an extra £3.4billion in Barnett consequentials announced for Scotland we desperately hope the Scottish government will now use it to reinstate the devolved Pension Age Winter Heating Payment for all pensioners, the cost of which would amount to less than 5% of extra money. This would show what Scotland can do using the powers of devolution.’
In related news:
