Councils to get £1.5bn extra for social care next year – Javid

Councils will be able to access new funding of £1.5 billion for social care next year, the Chancellor has announced.

Sajid Javid pledged the extra cash in the face of ongoing criticism from local councils, health think tanks and charities about the lack of a long-term funding settlement for the sector.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has said councils need funding next year amounting to £2.6 billion, more than £1 billion of which is for adult social care.

Mr Javid also set out a cash injection for the NHS and expanded on previous announcements, including capital funding to upgrade 20 hospitals.

He told the Commons: “The spending round is delivering on the people’s priorities and there is no higher priority than the NHS.

“Last year, we increased NHS spending by an extra £34bn a year by 2023/24…today we are reaffirming our commitment to the NHS with a £6.2bn increase in NHS funding next year.

“We are investing more in training and professional development for our doctors and nurses and over £2bn of new capital funding, starting with an upgrade of 20 hospitals this year, and £250m for groundbreaking new artificial intelligence technologies to help solve some of healthcare’s biggest challenges today like easier cancer detection, discovering new treatments and relieving the workload of doctors and nurses.”

Turning to social care, he said Prime Minister Boris Johnson “has committed to a clear plan to fix social care and give every older person the dignity and security that they deserve”.

He continued: “I can announce today that councils will have access to new funding of £1.5bn for social care next year alongside the largest increase in local government spending power since 2010 and, on top of the existing £2.5bn of social care grants, that’s a solid foundation to protect the stability of the system next year and a down payment on the more fundamental reforms the Prime Minister will set out in due course.”