The true scale of feeling across local government about the escalating social care crisis is today revealed by the results of an exclusive survey.
As the Government sits on its hands and fails to find any new money for adult social care, Tory-led Surrey CC was last week forced to propose a 15% council tax rise.
For the results of the survey click here
Now, our survey of adult social care directors, portfolio holders and council leaders, conducted with older people's charity Independent Age, finds an astonishing 96% were not confident that the Government's current plans were sufficient to cope with future demand.
On top of this, four out of five do not expect the number of delayed transfers of care in their area to significantly drop this year.
Head of policy at Independent Age, Andrew Kaye, said: ‘The results of this survey are deeply concerning.
'Worryingly, few council figures told us they believe that the number of delayed hospital discharges will fall this year.
'This means thousands of people who are well enough to leave could continue to be stuck in hospital because a social care package has not been put in place.'
President-elect of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, Margaret Willcox, added: ‘These findings are unsurprising and reflect the major cross-sector concerns about the deepening social care crisis and its impact on the NHS.'
And chief economist at the Nuffield Trust think-tank, Professor John Appleby, said: ‘It's very worrying, though not surprising, to hear that local authority leaders are feeling so pessimistic about their ability to cope with the pressure they are facing.
‘The most recent figures we have for delayed discharge from hospital show that they were at their highest level ever in November and we know that lack of social care is the fastest growing cause.
‘The extra precept announced in the local government finance settlement in December will fill just a small proportion of the expected funding gap in social care this year.'
Asked about the main ways in which their local authority would try to cope with rising demand for adult social care services, 58% of respondents said they would invest in preventative services, 44% planned to increase council tax and 42% would make efficiency savings.
Just 39% named integration with local NHS services as one of the main ways they would manage pressures on social care.
Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee, Clive Betts, said: ‘Health and social care integration alone won't meet the needs of people in need of care and support. More money is needed in the short-to-medium-term.'
Chairman of the Local Government Association's community wellbeing board, Cllr Izzi Seccombe, said the survey's findings ‘reinforced the urgency for the Government to inject genuinely new money into adult social care'.
England manager at the British Association of Social Workers, Maris Stratulis, added: ‘If local leaders who know the system are saying clearly they lack confidence in current plans being sufficient to cope with future demand then central government needs to listen to this message.'
However, communities secretary Sajid Javid told councillors last week that the pressure on social care was not solely financial.
He said: ‘You can pour as much petrol into a car as you like, but if the engine is not working the car will not go.'
A Department of Health spokeswoman said the Government had ‘recently announced almost £900m of additional funding for adult social care over the next two years'.
But London Councils hit back: ‘The decision to present this as finding an additional £900m to address social care pressures increases the difficulty that authorities will face in explaining their spending decisions to their citizens.'
