“This annual survey highlights the significant pressures councils are under and spotlights their ongoing hard work seeking to ensure everyone who draws on care and support can live independent lives."
“This annual survey highlights the significant pressures councils are under and spotlights their ongoing hard work seeking to ensure everyone who draws on care and support can live independent lives.
“After successful efforts in recent years to reduce the number of people waiting for a care assessment or support service, it’s concerning to see this number rise. This is another reminder of the difficult decisions councils are having to make and the real impact this has on their ability to meet their statutory responsibilities.
“The number of unpaid carers needing support continues to rise. This may be partly due to the efforts councils are making to identify unpaid carers, but it’s particularly concerning that requests for support following carer breakdown have also increased. Unpaid carers need to be systematically identified and supported, with full recognition of the contribution they make to individuals, communities, public services and the wider economy.
“Although overall overspend has decreased slightly this year, it remains high and, as a key issue for four out of five councils, is impacting spending on other council services. At the same time, councils’ capacity to spend on planned prevention is shrinking, with knock-on effects elsewhere in health and care services.
“We are alarmed that 58 per cent of Integrated Care Boards are reducing their spending on Continuing Health Care, potentially excluding people from the support they should receive and shifting costs onto social care budgets, exacerbating the risk of council overspend.
“Provider closures, cessations and contract hand-backs remain a risk to continuity of care in the market. Councils continue to manage this risk in the face of these pressures.
“We continue to call for sustained and predictable funding and infrastructure, as set out in our Care Where We Live report, which presents our vision for reform and addresses many of the findings of this important ADASS survey. This will be essential if councils are to successfully meet growing demand, deliver on their duties under the Care Act and support people to live the independent lives they want to lead.”
ENDS