A social care leader has warned that the Government’s decision to increase employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will be ‘catastrophic’ for millions of people who need care.
The president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), Melanie Williams, said the rise would place adult social care under ‘even greater financial pressure, which will be insurmountable for some care providers’.
At the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Liverpool today, Ms Williams will call for an exemption for social care providers to the NICs increase.
She will say: ‘The budget had catastrophic impacts on the cost of adult social care, not just for local government, but also for out important partners who support people in their neighbourhoods and in our voluntary and community sector.’
The Local Government Association’s social care spokesperson, David Fothergill, said: ‘Councils are reporting the likelihood of further cuts to core services and severe strain on health and care systems, including redundancies and providers handing back contracts.
‘The consequences of inaction will be leaving people without the support they need and further embedding a two-tier care system.’
Last week, the Nuffield Trust warned that England's adult social care sector faces extra costs of £2.8bn next year because of increases to NICs and the national living wage.
