Nearly all leading council figures who responded to a recent survey reported they were ‘not confident’ the Government’s current plans for health and social care are sufficient to cope with future demand.
The survey, carried out by the older people’s charity Independent Age and our sister magazine The MJ, sought the views of council leaders, adult social care directors and council cabinet portfolio-holders responsible for adult social services.
Out of the 52 who responded, 96% said they were ‘not confident’ with Whitehall’s health and social care plans. 92% also reported not being confident the introduction of a cap on care costs in 2020 would be introduced in their areas.
The survey also found 84% of the respondents - 20 of whom were council leaders - did not expect the number of delayed transfers of care from hospital in their area to significantly drop in 2017.
One London council leader asked rhetorically: ‘How can I fully express the despair and anger felt by my councillors about the way central government is failing some of the most vulnerable people in our society by not properly funding social care and not allowing local government the devolved powers to step up to the challenge?’
‘The usual strategy of blaming local authorities for a problem is simply not plausible,’ said another council leader from the South West.
‘The Government needs to start listening to local authority leaders for a change, rather than thinking it knows best about everything in the public services.’
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Dan Peters analyses the findings of the survey in more detail.
