‘The future for adult social care looks bleak’ under Tories, warns think tank

Last Updated: December 13, 2015By Mike Sivier

[Image: MTSOfan via photopin cc.]

The problems created by the Conservative Government for adult social care come from the same source as local authority funding issues.

With central government funding being cut, local authorities are being told to make up the shortfall from their own council taxpayer base, creating a postcode lottery.

But authorities whose population is mostly poor will find it hard to collect the cash they need, while those with richer residents will end up with a surplus.

So the poor will suffer while the rich will probably get a rebate – exactly as the Conservative Government intends.

The UK is heading towards the bottom of the OECD league table for spending on adult social care, a leading think tank has warned.

Approximately 1.86million older people over the age of 50 in England have unmet care needs, an analysis by the International Longevity Centre (ILC) shows – an increase of 120,000 since 2008/09.

Chancellor George Osborne announced in the Spending Review that councils will be allowed to increase council tax by 2% to fund local social care provision.

However, the ILC says local authorities with the highest concentration of older people and unpaid carers will be the least able to raise funding from the 2% council tax precept.

The ILC warns of a “polarisation of care” in the UK, leading to a two-tier system where those who can afford it will turn to private providers while others will become increasingly dependent on informal carers.

Source: ‘The Future For Adult Social Care Looks Bleak’ Under Tories, Warns Think Tank

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2 Comments

Rupert Mitchell (@rupert_rrl) December 13, 2015 at 2:06 pm - Reply

Fortunately I can say with reasonable confidence that the future for the Tory government looks even bleaker.
- Jonno R December 14, 2015 at 7:43 am - Reply
  
  That is if the people who are suffering under their leader?ship will survive long enough or have the means to travel to the polling stations to vote them out.