Councils will be forced to divert £1.1bn from local services in April due to the escalating cost of caring for the elderly, new analysis reveals.
Figures from the Local Government Association (LGA) show that in the next financial year, councils will need to find £1.1bn from other budgets in order to protect adult social care spending.
Analysis shows that councils spent £14.6bn on adult social care in 2013/14, accounting for 35% of local government spending.
Cllr David Sparks, chair of the LGA, warned it was only a matter of time before councils run out of money to provide any other service beyond adult social care.
‘Government’s failure to properly fund the ever-growing cost of care is short-changing not just those who use and need it. It is taking a toll on everyone who relies on councils to fix the roads, provides buses and keep our parks, libraries and leisure centres open,’ he said:
‘Within just a few short years there will be some councils with little money left to do anything but social care, if this continues.’
The LGA said the £1.1bn needed to plug the social care funding gap is the equivalent of filling 20 million potholes or running 3,800 libraries.
