Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has announced an extra £150m for social care which ‘will be allocated according to relative needs’. Mr Javid has made the extra money available following publication of the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2018 to 2019 and due to an ‘anticipated underspend in existing departmental budgets’.
However, the announcement has received mixed reviews from experts within the sector. Margaret Willcox, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) commented that councils would need more than £2bn “just to stand still in 2018-19” and that “this is not going to make a great deal of difference”.
In comparison, Lord Porter, chairman of the Local Government Association, said the extra funding was “recognition of the LGA’s warning about the urgent need for the Government to further try and help councils tackle some of the immediate social care pressures they face.”
With the Green Paper due to be published in the summer, it remains to be seen what the proposals will be for reforming the social care system. But in the meantime, an influx of any money is sure to be welcomed at this difficult time.
