28th Nov 2013: In its latest research, ‘Tough Times 2013’, The Audit Commission has concluded that Councils are running out of room to protect adult social care from significant cuts, despite having done so since the government’s spending reduction programme began.
Spending on adult care in England – net of service user charges – will have fallen by 7.5% in real terms from 2011-14, compared with overall cuts across all services (bar education) of 12.1% by councils with social services responsibilities.
But the change has made adult social care an ever bigger proportion of council non-education spending – 41% in 2013-14 – making it much more difficult for authorities to give the service relative protection from cuts in future. This is evident in the fact that while reductions in adult care accounted for 14% of council cuts from 2010-11 to 2011-12, the service will account for 52% of cuts in 2013-14.
The watchdog said that councils had shown significant resilience in managing reductions in government funding since 2011 but warned that they faced challenges in the years ahead when Whitehall will deliver further cuts and demand for social care will mount.
“As social care accounts for an increasing proportion of councils’ total service spending, it will be harder to protect this service from spending reductions in the future,” said Audit Commission chair Jeremy Newman.
Full story available at Community Care Online