The
long term sustainable funding for adult social care remains an urgent issue
within the context of continued cuts to Local Authority budgets by this Tory
Government – Theresa May might have declared an end to austerity but it isn’t
evident here in Kirklees or other boroughs up and down the country!
According
to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Government has
cut £7billion from social care budgets in England since 2010. Nationally and
locally we have a growing crisis in services for elderly and disabled people
which creates additional pressures on the NHS.
In Kirklees
adult social care we have a funding gap of £25m over the next 3 years, due to
increasing demand led pressures and cost pressures, these are a key budget risk
for the council.
Short-term
government funding such as the adult social care precept and Better Care
Funding is not sustainable and it will not be possible to close the funding gap
unless core permanent funding is found from a national perspective.
There
is a target of £4m cuts in 2018/19 for adult social care, alongside an expected
volume growth totalling £3.6m. This is in context of continued austerity and a
further £29m of cuts to Kirklees Council over the next two years. According to
the LGA, nationally adult social care services face a £4.3 billion funding gap
by 2020.
The
publication of the Social Care Green Paper which promises a long term sustainable
funding plan has been delayed several times: from an original publication date
of Summer 2017. It is disappointing that the NHS Plan had not been accompanied
by the Social Care Green Paper. The NHS and social care sector are interlinked.
Social care needs to be robust and sustainable for us to support the NHS to
deliver safe and effective services.
The
Labour vision is for a fully-funded high quality social care system which
prevents hospital admissions and frees up hospital beds to reduce the current
record NHS waiting times.
Kirklees
Public Health has lost £3.5m since 2016/2017, with further cuts planned for the
coming year. For the first time ever since records began we have seen a
reduction in life expectancy, particularly amongst women living in the most
deprived areas. The healthy life expectancy between someone living in a more
affluent area in Kirklees can differ by up to 9 years in comparison to someone
living in a deprived area. Addressing health inequalities is crucial if we are
to reduce the adult social care bill and alleviate pressures on the NHS.
1 in 3
adults in Kirklees has a mental health condition, up from 1 in 5 in 2012. We
are seeing increasing number of people presenting in mental health crisis who
have previously had not any contact with mental health services. This is a
worrying trend. Contributing factors in the rise in mental health concerns are
pressures on household finances, cuts in welfare, zero hour contracts and so
forth, driving individuals and families into debt and despair. For these
reasons the Labour Group propose to invest over £1.4 m to launch a range of
ground breaking mental health initiatives; this includes £400k for domestic
abuse.
In
line with our commitment to ensure every child has the best start in life and
that people feel safe and protected from harm, we will invest in domestic
violence services. Over the next two years we will also invest in sexual health
and substance misuse services.
Madame
Mayor, the Labour budget is centred on the needs of our residents and puts the
wellbeing of people at the heart of everything we do and I am pleased to
commend it to the council.
