The Effect of the Autumn Budget on Health and Social Care

“Far from heralding a new dawn for social care, this historic budget appears to do little to recognise the vital role that social care plays in the lives of millions of people up and down the country.”

Vic Rayner, Chief Executive, National Care Forum

 

Autumn Budget / ADASS Autumn Report

What Does the Autumn Budget 24 Mean For Social Care?

As the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, presented her Autumn Budget 2024 to Parliament on Wednesday 30th October, the social care sector listened intently with a collective sense of hope yet increasing desperation.

After the cancellation of planned adult social care charging reforms in her public spending audit in July, and serious on-going issues with recruitment and retention within the sector, there is an overwhelming and clear need for urgent funding.

The Budget provided an additional £600 million of extra grant funding for social care in 2025/26 (for both adults and children’s services) and an £86 million increase to the Disabled Facilities Grant.

This support, as part of a 3.2% increase in local government spending power, is welcomed of course but is this enough? The overwhelming response from the sector is ‘far from it’.

National Care Forum Chief Executive Vic Rayner said:

“Far from heralding a new dawn for social care, this historic budget appears to do little to recognise the vital role that social care plays in the lives of millions of people up and down the country.

“Adult social care providers will be hit particularly hard by the government's planned changes to employers' national insurance contributions.

“Neither, unfortunately, does it reassure that this is a government committed to ensuring social care is understood, prioritised and invested in as a public service that changes people's lives.”

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive for NHS Providers warned:

“Social care needs urgent attention too. That can’t be kicked down the road any longer. An underfunded, overstretched social care sector needs urgent reform and more resources not just to give people the care they need but to help to ease mounting pressure across the NHS.”

Adult social care may not have been entirely ignored in this budget, but it certainly hasn’t been afforded the attention and funding desperately needed in order to resolve the many serious issues currently at hand.

Since the announcement of the budget, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) has released its Autumn Survey for 2024, which focuses on the challenges that councils face in improving social care in the midst of ever-increasing financial pressures.

Published just one week after the Chancellor delivered the Budget, the Survey is sent to every director of Adult Social Services at all 153 councils in England with social care responsibilities. The report identifies challenges across the sector.

The 2024 Survey highlights that adult social care financial pressures are becoming more challenging and that the cost of care is going to increase as a result of the changes to employers’ national insurance contributions and the national living wage.

Adass said 81 per cent of the councils that responded reported being on course to overspend their adult social care budget in the current financial year, up from 72 per cent in 2023/24.

They warned that the overspend does not provide the environment in which the new Government’s proposed National Care Service “can hope to succeed.”

Melanie Williams, President of ADASS, commented:

“We welcome government commitments to multi-year funding settlements for councils and a review of Carers Allowance. A 10-year plan for the NHS that is cognisant of social care and Fair Pay Agreements for care workers are important steps to improving the sustainability of the sector in the longer term.

“At the same time, we acknowledge that those measures will not impact significantly on the financial health of our 153 councils. In our Spring Survey we described the financial situation in adult social care to be ‘as bad as it has been in recent history’.

“Adult social care at its best transforms lives. It enables millions of us to live the lives we want to lead, where we want to live. Investment in health and adult social care should not be seen as a cost to the public purse, but instead crucial to our economy’s growth and productivity.

“We extend our gratitude to ADASS members and their staff for sharing their insights, and to our Policy and Communications teams, and Trustees whose collective expertise has made this report possible.

“We look forward to working with the Government, councils, and all those dedicated to transforming adult social care in England.”

In response to the survey, Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, commented:

“This report is a blunt warning that adult social care is buckling under relentless financial pressures. Providers and local authorities are wrestling with soaring demand and unsustainable costs, trying to deliver essential services within a funding framework that simply does not meet the needs of our communities.

“While the Government may have pledged support, the lack of tangible action leaves a gaping billion pound hole in the sector’s funding.

“Recent budgetary decisions add to this burden, creating an environment where both councils and providers are set up to fail and unable to invest in the preventive and community-based services essential to reducing hospital admissions, supporting timely discharges, and ultimately allowing people to live well.

“Without immediate, targeted support, next year will be one of the hardest years faced. This is no longer just a policy issue; it’s a pressing societal and economic concern worsened by the Treasury who must act now to prevent sector wide collapse.”

Kathryn Smith, Chief Executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE):

“The foundations for a robust National Care Service are currently unstable.

“Whilst the review of Carers Allowance and the introduction of a Fair Pay Agreement are significant steps forward, social care runs as a golden thread through many of the Government’s ambitions.

“Refocusing the system from sickness to prevention and hospital to community, as well as the success of the 10-year health plan, are all contingent upon a healthy, thriving social care sector.

“This starts with reviewing the current funding frameworks, such as the Better Care Fund, and funding settlements.

“Beyond funding, we need to find new ways to deliver social care more efficiently and effectively, such as through new care models and digital innovation.

“The spreading and scaling of innovation create new avenues for stabilising the sector. One example is digital solutions that provide local information and support to unpaid carers. We stand ready to work with the Government to help deliver their vision for the social care sector and drive the change required.”

Dr Rhidian Hughes, Chief Executive of the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) which represents over 100 disability charities says:

“The latest evidence from local government Directors commissioning social care, reiterates the stark reality facing providers – essential services, relied upon by millions of people, are under threat due to a lack of central government funding.

“It is a sign of a broken system when councils are overspending by over £560m a year on social care and in turn underfunding third sector organisations delivering essential care and support.”

At Social Care TV, we agree that fast and decisive action is needed by the Government to address the issues now being faced in a sector so vital to the very fabric of our society. We look forward to hearing more from the Government on this.

Read the full Budget here.

Read the full ADASS Autumn Report here.

 

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.