State-funded care for UK disabled and elderly people becoming 'impossible'

Most elderly and disabled people with care needs face paying for their own support by the end of the next parliament unless the next government changes tack on spending priorities, social services leaders are warning.

Sustaining state-funded adult social care services in some parts of England could become “almost impossible” unless funding is protected and aligned with NHS budgets, according to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass).

The warnings came after it emerged that the Department of Health is predicting a funding gap of up to £7bn a year in adult social care by the end of the decade – half what is currently spent by local councils.

Although councils have sought to protect social care from the worst of the cuts required of them under the coalition’s austerity programme, Adass says budgets have still been cut by 12% since 2010 while demand for services from growing numbers of elderly and disabled people has risen 14%.

The number of adults receiving state-funded social care plummeted by almost 250,000 over the four years to 2012-13.

At least £10bn was spent by people paying for their own care and support, compared to £14bn spent by councils.

David Pearson, Adass’s president, said there were parts of the country where more people bought their own care than were state-funded and it was “likely” that would be the case nationally by 2020 if government policy continued unchanged.

“Adult social care is at a crossroads,” Pearson said. “As a country we need to be ambitious for care and recognise that protecting the NHS means protecting adult social care too.

“There are choices. And there are consequences of those choices. There is a danger that, in some parts of the country, sustaining social care services as we have known them will become almost impossible.”

Adass and the Local Government Association, representing councils, have been warning of a £4.3bn funding gap in social care by 2020. But it has emerged that the health department is working on projections that extend to an even bigger shortfall.

Sebastian Habibi, a senior department official responsible for social care funding, told a conference that the gap could be anything between £5bn and £7bn, depending on the level of efficiency savings achieved by councils and the costs of bringing in the Dilnot review funding reforms under the new Care Act.

At present, the means test for state social care sets a limit of £23,250 savings or assets. Under the act, that will rise next year to £27,000 for care at home or £118,000 for residential care, together with a lifetime cap of £72,000 spending on care costs. It is estimated that 35,000 more people should become eligible for state support.

Pearson said: “The danger is that we recruit more people into an underfunded system, which is not sustainable.”

Other provisions of the act take effect next month, introducing new rights for people who need support and for family carers. The coalition has set aside £470m for implementation.