England’s largest councils call for delay to adult social care costs cap amid £30bn funding ‘black hole’

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England’s largest councils have called for a delay to the introduction of the cap on adult social care costs amid a £30bn funding “black hole” that would make the plans “impossible to implement”.

The County Councils Network (CCN), a representative body for 37 local authorities in England, said that nine in 10 councils will not be prepared for the changes, which are pegged to take place in October 2025.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said during the election campaign that Labour would introduce a cap on adult social care costs. A £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England has to spend on their personal care over their lifetime had been due to be implemented by the Conservative government.

Tory ministers had promised to deliver the cap from October 2023 but delayed this by two years. Mr Streeting has recommitted to the 2025 date despite the pledge not being in the Labour manifesto.

Now councils are urging Mr Streeting to think again and delay the implementation of the cap by a year at least as local authorities struggle to find money to pay for social care.

Funds that were earmarked for the cap were re-prioritised in 2022 and used by councils to deliver day-to-day social care services. Councils have now become “dependent” on this extra funding, the CCN said, and will not be able to cope if it is used to pay for the funding cap.

New analysis by the group estimates that the total cost of the promised reforms will cost £30bn over the first nine years. They estimate that the cap on adult social care costs and an extended means test will account for £18.6bn of this.

The modelling shows that councils in the South East, South West and East of England will be the most affected.

Cllr Martin Tett, spokesperson at the CCN, said: “We are just over 15 months away from the introduction of seismic reforms in adult social care, and the new government must make an urgent decision on their future.

“Councils have serious concerns over their deliverability: these new estimates show the costs have increased significantly to £30bn over the next decade, while currently the reforms are totally underfunded. The political hiatus before the election also meant preparations have been suspended nationally, while locally councils have been focused on day-to-day services, and still face major shortages in social workers.”

The report comes as employment group Skills for Care says that England will need a further 540,000 social care posts by 2040 if the workforce is to grow in line with the increase in the number of people over the age of 65.

According to their findings, care workers with at least five years of experience are paid only 8p more an hour than new starters.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We know that people are suffering without the care they need, and we are committed to ensuring everyone lives an independent, dignified life.

“We are going to grip the social care crisis, starting with the workforce by delivering a new deal for care workers.

“We will also take steps to create a National Care Service underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country.”