The National Care Forum (NCF) has sent an open letter to the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, calling on him to guarantee additional funding for adult social care.
The letter asks Hunt to:
- Guarantee additional funding for adult social care in line with the findings of the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s recommendations and the prime minister’s pledge of £13bn.
- Commit to the reform of adult social care as outlined in People at the Heart of Care and provide the funding to fully realise this to ensure people are able to access high quality services when they need them.
- Bring forward a fully funded workforce plan, with pay progression in line with the NHS, making provision for better terms and conditions, training, and career structures.
- Guarantee that adult social care providers are defined as a vulnerable sector as part of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme following April 2023.
- Guarantee that those people accessing adult social care support will still be able to access a version of the Energy Price Guarantee following April 2023.
The letter, signed by NCF CEO Vic Rayner OBE, continues:
“As the new chancellor, the care and support sector is relying on you to seize the opportunity you now have to secure that additional funding and ensure that essential reforms and funding are brought forward for adult social care. The prime minister’s pledge during her leadership campaign to fund social care with the £13bn that would have been raised from the now scrapped National Insurance levy should cement adult social care as one of the priority areas for the government.
“Public spending cuts to adult social care would be disastrous, especially given current pressure on the NHS and the looming winter pressures. Equally, failing to increase public spending on social care in line with rising costs and ignoring the urgent need to inject funding into the workforce would also be unthinkable. We urge you to honour the recommendations of the Health and Social Care Select Committee.
“Good quality and well-resourced social care is good for growth – it is preventative in nature, allowing people to retain their independence for longer, doing the things they want to do, living in and contributing to their communities and working if they wish. Poor health and wellbeing are a leading reason for economic inactivity and low productivity in our society. Public spending cuts for adult social care are inconceivable as they will damage one of the key drivers of not only economic growth but also wider societal cohesion and wellbeing.”
