Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has (a) made and (b) received from outside sources of the increase in demand for social care services from local councils over the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

I recognise that demand for social care is growing and this was a consideration in last year’s Spending Review.

The Spending Review settlement provides up to £3.5 billion of new support for adult social care by 2019/20 – greater than the £2.9 billion that the Local Government Association estimated was needed for adult social care in their Spending Review submission. The vast majority of councils have already taken advantage of the opportunity to introduce a new Social Care Precept, which allows them in increase council tax by 2% above the existing threshold. By the end of the Parliament, this will raise up to £2 billion that must be spent exclusively on adult social care. In addition, by 2019/20 an extra £1.5 billion per year will be available for inclusion in the Better Care Fund.

Taken together, the Social Care Precept and the Better Care Fund will mean local government has access to the funding needed to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament.