Care for the elderly: warning over £135m cash that could be squandered on admin
Money intended to improve care for elderly and disabled people could end up being spent on bureaucracy, an alliance of councils and charities warns
Care for elderly and disabled people will be jeopardised by a £135 million gap in funding for a long-awaited overhaul of the system, an alliance of council leaders, care chiefs and charities is warning.
Details in the fine print of the Coalition’s Care Bill, which is going through its final Parliamentary stages, suggest that cash transferred from the NHS to the care system will have to be used to make the reforms happen, they say.
It means that money set aside to improve social care would be diverted into bureaucracy, the councils and charities fear.
The warning comes in a letter to The Telegraph by the Local Government Association, which represents every major council in England and Wales, and the Care and Support Alliance, which includes almost 80 old age and disability charities. It is also supported by the associations representing council social care chiefs and chief executives.
They argue that, although care has so far been shielded from the full impact of Government cuts, services relied upon by frail elderly and disabled people will “inevitably suffer” from the new shortfall.
Almost 930,000 elderly and disabled people in England rely on care provided through their local council ranging from help with washing and dressing to round-the-clock support in nursing homes.
But it is estimated that another 450,000 with care needs are shut of the system as the qualifying criteria have become more and more strict in recent years because of deep cuts to council budgets.
The Care Bill, based on the recommendations of a landmark report by the economist Sir Andrew Dilnot, will introduce a notional £72,000 lifetime cap on care bills.
There will also be a loan scheme to prevent people having to sell the family home and a new national test to end the current postcode lottery in which the question of whether people qualify for help depends partly on where they live.
The Department of Health has allocated £335 million next year to cover the major set-up costs for the reforms such as paying for a mass assessment programme and initial funding for the loan scheme.
But, according to the LGA, £135 million of other start-up costs are expected to come from the “Better Care Fund” a special pot of money mostly taken from the NHS for social care.
The groups behind the letter support an amendment to the Bill tabled by the one of the original architects of the reforms, Paul Burstow, the former care minister, calling for annual checks to ensure there is enough money to cover implementation.
“The legislation could end up being funded from money otherwise used for acute services,” the letter warns.
“Although local authorities have limited the impact on the essential care services that people rely on, these services will inevitably suffer.”
Cllr Katie Hall, chair of the LGA’s Well-being Board, added: “It would be a tragedy if insufficient funding created a barrier for local authorities to carry out the changes that the Care Bill is designed to bring and we are in real danger of the good intentions of the Bill being jeopardised if the Government does not properly fund these reforms.
“We must prevent the cracks already evident in our starved adult social care system from becoming wider”
Richard Hawkes, chairman of the Care and Support Alliance, added: “The success of the Care Bill will be jeopardised unless it is matched with a sustainable funding solution so that older and disabled people who need care can get it.”
Mr Burstow said: “The reality that we must all admit to is that social care has been badly underfunded for decades, and these reforms will fail to realise their potential if we don’t ensure that local authorities have sufficient funds to follow through.”
Sandie Keene, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care, added: “It really is crucial that the integrity of the fundamental changes envisioned in the care Bill is not jeopardised by short change.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “The current system doesn’t work and is hugely unfair – people face losing almost everything they’ve worked hard for or being forced to sell their family home in a time of crisis to pay for the care they need.
“Our reforms will put an end to this and deliver sustainable changes that will help protect people for many years to come.”
“Our £3.8 billion Better Care Fund will allow local authorities and the NHS to invest in joined up services that prevent people from developing greater care needs in the first place.
“This includes putting the structures in place to make this happen.
“To support that we are providing an extra £335 million to cover the costs of bringing in our cap on care costs and our deferred payments scheme for people in residential care.”
