The government has cut the funding for its proposed overhaul of adult social care by 58%, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO).
The watchdog said that despite being just two years into the 10-year scheme, plans to cap the cost of lifetime care had been delayed and other proposals had been scaled back, with even revised policies falling behind schedule.
The NAO said over £1bn of the £1.7bn allocated by the Treasury for the reforms had now been “diverted to other care priorities”, with the cash being “reprioritised… in favour of helping to stabilise the sector”, as soaring inflation continued to “compound long-standing pressures”.
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson insisted ministers “remain committed to reform”.
But Labour said the report “makes clear that the Conservatives will break their promise to ‘fix the crisis in social care once and for all’ by the next election”.
The Liberal Democrats said it showed a “chronic neglect of adult social care” under the Tories.
Read more: Social care system ‘would collapse’ without 4m unpaid carers, report warns
In its report, the NAO pointed to the ministerial decision last autumn to postpone putting £3.6bn into cost reforms, and instead commit up to £7.5bn to the care sector.
That included £2.7bn to dish out to local authorities to help ease immediate pressures – something the watchdog described as “welcome relief”.
But it warned funding “may not be reaching areas that need it most”, with the government having failed to update its formula for distribution since 2014 – meaning up-to-date local variations in need hadn’t been taken into account.
According to figures from the DHSC, one in six councils expected demand for adult social care to exceed capacity over the coming winter.
The NAO said there had been “recent signs of improvement” in adult social care, but overall it remained “under significant pressure”, with double the number of people waiting…
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2023-11-09 17:36:00
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