Council tax rises designed to tackle the social care funding crisis will not prevent deep cuts to other local public services, town halls have warned.
Analysis by the Local Government Association published today indicated that 147 out of 151 social care authorities are considering or have approved introducing the social care precept in 2017/18 – a move that would raise around £543m directly for care services.
More than seven out of 10 social care authorities are poised to introduce a 3% care precept while a further quarter will introduce precepts of around 2%.
However, the LGA analysis found that the extra income gained from the care precept will be ‘swallowed up’ by the £600m cost to councils of implementing the National Living Wage.
‘With local government facing an overall funding gap of £5.8bn by 2020, council leaders warn council tax rises will not prevent the need for continued cutbacks to local services, including social care,’ the analysis read.
Town halls want government ministers to free up further Whitehall cash to support services through the forthcoming Local Government Finance Settlement, which is expected to be confirmed this week.
Lord Porter, LGA chairman, said that councils were ‘being pushed perilously close to the financial edge’.
‘Without genuinely new additional government funding for social care, vulnerable people face an ever uncertain future where they might no longer receive the dignified care and support they deserve,’ he added.
