Philip Hammond urged to save social care from ‘brink of collapse’ with £1.5billion Budget Day boost
MPs call on Chancellor to use funding earmarked for 2019-2020 to help plug £4.5billion hole
Philip Hammond was last night urged to save social care from the “brink of collapse” with a £1.5billion Budget Day boost.
A cross-party Commons Committee called on the Chancellor to bring forward funding earmarked for 2019-2020 to plug a huge black hole.
They also urged the Chancellor to find an estimated £4.5 billion for the social care budget between now and the end of the Parliament.
And they called on the Government to set up cross-party talks on a long-term solution to the crisis in social care services.
Committee chair Clive Betts said an “urgent review” was needed – warning councils have moved from doing “more for less” to “less for less”.
The Labour MP said: “The adult social care sector provides care and support to adults of all ages with care needs to enable them to lead independent and fulfilling lives.
“Throughout our inquiry we have heard powerful evidence from all parts of the sector about the stress the system is under.”
Izzi Seccombe of the Local Government Association said she was “delighted” MPs had backed her call. She said: “The case for new funding is more overwhelming than ever, with the services which provide care for elderly and disabled people on the brink of collapse.”
Theresa May in December vowed to seek a “long-term solution” to the social care funding.
Surrey County Council sparked speculation the Chancellor was preparing a Budget Day package when they scrapped plans for a referendum on a 15 per cent council tax hike last night.
The tax rise was to pay for social care in their patch.
At the time, Surrey chief David Hodge said he was “confident the Government now understands the real pressures in adult social care”.
Lib Dem Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb claimed more than a million elderly and disabled had “unmet” care needs.
He stormed: “The Chancellor has been warned by the Committee and other experts that the chronic neglect of social care is unsustainable.
“Next week, he must act on these warnings with an emergency injection of resources into both social care and the NHS.”
