This week the Public Accounts Committee published its report into Local Government finances. The Homecare Association responded to the original call for evidence; you can read our submission here.
Key findings include:
- Local authorities spent over £72.8 billion in 2023–24, of which 58% went on adult and children’s social care.
- Some local authorities spent as much as 80% of their budget on these services.
- Increases in national insurance contributions may have a significant impact on social service providers, particularly smaller charities.
- Neither the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) or HM Treasury assessed the impact of increasing employers' national insurance contributions on social service providers.
- Local authorities are unlikely to have capacity to plan for and implement any reforms to Adult Social Care.
Recommendations from the Committee include:
- MHCLG must work across Government to implement its plan to simplify funding across the system, including the consolidation of cross government grant funding to local authorities.
- HM Treasury should write to the Committee to provide more detail on how the next Local Government Finance Settlement will support greater investment in prevention, and how this can be done without just relying on ringfenced grant funding.
- Before the next Local Government Finance Settlement, MHCLG should work with HM Treasury should carry out a post implementation review of the increase in National Insurance Contributions.
