Lee Peart 12 March 2025

Prevention services 'at risk'

Prevention services at risk image
Image: Chinnapong / Shutterstock.com.

Prevention services are ‘at risk' because of rising social care spending, a local government leader has warned.

Giving evidence to a Health and Social Care Committee inquiry, chairman of the Local Government Association's community wellbeing board, David Fothergill, said the amount councils spent on prevention had fallen from 8.2% last year to 7% this year.

He told MPs: ‘Social care is really putting local government under a lot of pressure, which means that all the other services that we provide are becoming at risk and, most importantly, prevention. Prevention is something we all talk about but it gets less and less funding,'

President of the Association of Directors of Adult Services, Melanie Williams, said only half of her members were confident they could meet their prevention duties under the Care Act.

She added: ‘We are in a constant spiral of thinking about today and not thinking about what will be a brilliant wellbeing service that supported older people with loneliness, for example.'

Lee Peart is editor of Hemming Group’s Healthcare Management magazine.

SIGN UP
For your free daily news bulletin
Highways jobs

Chief Executive

Ebbsfleet Development Corporation
up to £165,000
Ebbsfleet is one of the UK’s most ambitious regeneration projects, a 21st-century Garden City Ebbsfleet, Kent
Recuriter: Ebbsfleet Development Corporation

Partnership Co-ordinator - Voluntary & Community

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and London Borough of Wandsworth
£43,545 - £52,767
Partnership Co-ordinator - Voluntary & ... Wandsworth, London
Recuriter: London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and London Borough of Wandsworth

Planning Support Officer

The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Council
Up to £34359 per annum
Keep our planning service running smoothly, supporting the team that shapes the future of our borough.As a Planning Support Officer, you'll play a vit England, London, City of London
Recuriter: The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Council

Change Communications Lead

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
£42,839-£48,226
Having come out of government intervention after two years in 2024 Sandwell, West Midlands
Recuriter: Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Finance Officer - Debt Collection

Essex County Council
£25081.00 - £27653.00 per annum + + 26 Days Leave & Local Gov Pension
Finance Officer - Debt CollectionPermanent, Full Time£25,081 to £27,653 per annumLocation
Recuriter: Essex County Council
Linkedin Banner