Last Updated on October 7, 2022

The County Councils Network (CCN) is calling on the Government to delay social care reforms, warning that the system is under so much pressure and care services could be worsened if they are introduced too soon.

From October 2023, reforms to protect people from catastrophic care costs and make more people eligible for state support with their care costs come into force. These include a more generous means test and a cap on care costs of £86,000 – two policies that are supported by the County Councils Network (CCN).

But CCN warns that the system is under serious pressure currently, with councils facing a ‘perfect storm’ of financial and workforce pressures that mean the government should push back their introduction to October 2024.

The provider organisation, The Independent Care Group (ICG) has called on the Government to intervene and prevent more delays.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said, ‘A further delay, until 2024, would be a betrayal of many hundreds of thousands of people who are facing the nightmare of paying their care costs and having to sell their homes to do so.

‘It is seven years since the introduction of a cap on care costs was first hit by delays and we cannot keep seeing this reform get kicked further and further down the road. We understand and share the County Councils Network’s fears about a lack of staff, funding and resources but the sector cannot afford any more delays. It is clear that the funding made available by the Government for the introduction of reform isn’t sufficient and needs to be re-addressed quickly.’ 

The ICG supports the County Councils Network’s chapter on social care, contained in the organisation’s Five Point Plan for County and Unitary Councils.

Mr Padgham added, ‘We endorse what the Network says in its social care and health chapter but call on the Government to better support councils so that the reforms do not have to be delayed until 2024.’

The ICG last week launched its Five Pillars of Social Care Reform, setting out what it believes are the actions required to save the sector.

The five pillars are:

• Ring fence a percentage of GDP to be spent on providing social care to those who already receive it and the 1.6m who can’t get it.
• Create a unified National Care Service, incorporating health and social care.
• Set a National Minimum Wage per hour for care staff on a par with NHS.
• Set up an urgent social care task force to oversee reform.
• Fix a ‘fair price for care’ cost per bed and cost per homecare visit.

Mr Padgham added, ‘This latest warning from the County Councils Network is yet another signal that the Government’s policy on social care isn’t working. They are tinkering around the edges whilst what is needed is bold, once-in-a-lifetime reform.  We cannot wait any longer. With every passing day the pressure on the delivery of social care mounts and we are on the brink of seeing a loss of providers that will impact many thousands of people.’

The ICG said years of underfunding compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and now crippling staff shortages and the rocketing cost of living have left the social care sector in crisis. At least 1.6m people over 65 are not getting the care they need. Care and nursing homes are closing and homecare providers handing back undeliverable contracts or going out of business.

CCN says loading extra pressure on an already-teetering system to prepare for the introduction of the cap on care and means-test over the next 12 months could worsen services by impacting the availability and quality of care packages. They say that inflation is set to add £3.7bn of additional costs to existing services by 2023, whilst councils face a workforce crisis at present with thousands of vacancies unfilled. CCN warn councils will not be able to recruit an estimated extra 5,000 staff over the next 12 months to undertake an additional 197,000 care and financial assessments needed, which is a 45% increase on current levels. This level of extra demand will create longer waits for care packages, as at present there is a waiting list of almost 300,000.

CCN is calling on the Government to ‘stabilise’ the social care sector by focusing on existing pressures and providing more funding for services to get through the next year, before introducing reforms in 2024.

The call comes in a new report which outlines the financial and workforce challenges currently in social care – and the impacts of the reforms if they are introduced next October, CNN outlines the following concerns:

• Adult social care services in England are set to face £3.7bn in additional costs over the next 18 months due to rising inflation and demand. This is more than double the rise in costs that were estimated when inflation was lower.
• If Government doesn’t provide any more funding to offset these costs, councils will have little choice but to reduce the amount of care packages available to people, and/or charge more for certain services. This could mean a worse level of service on day one of the reforms being introduced next October if the financial pressures councils face is not stabilised.
• Local authorities are facing a staffing and capacity crisis currently, which is impacting on people who are currently eligible for care. There are currently almost 300,000 people waiting for a Care Act assessment, which determines what level of state support they are eligible for.
• If the reforms go ahead, councils face a ‘mountain’ of Care Act and financial assessments each year to register people for the cap, means-test or ask the council to arrange their care – an extra 197,000 each year which is a 45% increase on current levels, rising to 64% in county and rural areas. If the reforms are introduced next October, these waiting times are likely to get longer.
• An extra 5,000 staff will be needed to carry out the extra assessments – on top of a current social worker vacancy rate of 1,782. CCN says that its councils will find it almost impossible to recruit that level of staff by next October, making it extremely likely that people will face even longer waits for care than they do now.
• Previous independent research by Newton for CCN has estimated the costs of the reforms over the next decade could be a minimum of £10bn more than current Government funding estimates. CCN says the delay would allow the government to fully reassess the costs of reforms and set out a funding package that fully funds them before the next Spending Review.

Cllr Martin Tett, Adult Social Care Spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said, ‘The Government’s reforms package will make the charging system for social care fairer over time and councils across the country support their premise.

‘However, the care system is facing a perfect storm of financial and workforce pressures. These reforms could exacerbate this by extending the eligibility of state support for care costs, provided by local authorities. Councils face a mountain of extra assessments that will be impossible to deliver because of current capacity and financial issues in local government.

Adding, ‘Councils remain committed to supporting these reforms, but is imperative councils have the time to mitigate the pressures they will create, recruit a sufficient number of staff and stabilise services in the short term. If not, these reforms could be unworkable at inception.’

Visit the County Councils Network website to download the document mentioned in this story.

In other news, The Care Provider Alliance (CPA) has published a new report, which reflects on a number of care providers’ thoughts on the Fair Cost of Care process and lays out their key concerns.