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Funding for social care should not be taken out of the hands of cash-strapped councils and there are no quick fixes for the struggling sector, Government ministers have said.
In an interview with IHelen Whateley said social care funding should not be centralized to mirror the NHS, arguing that local authorities know best what care people need.
He acknowledged there was “huge pressure” on parliaments, but said there were “no easy answers when it comes to social care funding”.
Ms Whateley, who has been head of social care intermittently since 2020, said major reforms “take time to bring about change”.
This comes after the Government announced that it would allocate £20m of the Social Care Reform Fund to strengthen systems that support adults in the care system to live in the community.
Earlier this week, a report from health think tank The King’s Fund called for funding reforms, citing rising costs facing already budget-strapped parliaments.
Mr Whateley said: I Increasing spending on social care was a “priority” but opposed suggestions that further reforms to the funding model were needed.
“There is huge pressure on social care funding and local authority budgets, competing needs and more people needing care,” she said.
“That’s one of the reasons why we’re putting extra funding into social care, up to £8.6 billion this year to support that extra cost. For me that was a real priority.”
He added that “there are no easy answers on social care funding” and said governments “from all walks of life have been talking about major reforms to the social care sector for many years”. But she said making it a national system like the NHS was not the answer.
She added: “I’ve heard people making all sorts of arguments about ‘let’s do social care differently, let’s combine social care and the NHS’. In fact, I’ve heard that local authorities I wholeheartedly support the role it plays in child care.
“And a lot of social care is very different from medicine. It’s often about relationships and helping people live independently, which is very different from what you’d experience in a hospital. So, really… I am a true supporter of local government, which best understands the needs of its communities.”
He disputed the fact that the Conservative government had spent 14 years improving the area, saying “ambitious reforms” would take time.
“I don’t think anyone would say it’s been easy and that’s why we’ve had such long conversations, regardless of party or government. “Reforms are really ambitious, but really ambitious reforms take time to bring about change,” she said.
She said the government plans to improve national regulation of individual care providers, making becoming a carer a more attractive career prospect.
The Government has today announced that it will invest £20 million from the Transformation Accelerator Fund to expand community care, including shared living services.
Co-living matches people age 16 and older with a certified caregiver, allowing them to live together long-term or for short-term stays away from their permanent home.
This system gives adults in need of care more freedom and independence and prevents them from receiving residential care services that may be inappropriate for them.
Ms Whateley visited ShareLive carers in their homes in Oxfordshire to announce the funding allocation.
She meets Sarah, a carer who temporarily takes in three residents, Jill, Sammy and Ruth, giving them a “vacation” and time away from their usual home.
Sarah joined the scheme in 2020 after her children moved out and she had a spare room in her house. She said doing so expanded her family and found it incredibly rewarding.
Shared Lives Plus CEO Ewan King said he was “very pleased” with the latest funding. “More people with social care needs will have the opportunity to experience the life-changing experience of living in a loving home and having regular visits in their local community. ” he said.
The entire fund will help support unpaid carers across a range of local authorities by investing in Share Live as well as other schemes.
We will see an expansion of digital tools to help carers identify local supports. Another West Yorkshire company will use the funding to connect hospitality and leisure businesses with unpaid carers, allowing them to donate their time off and experiences.
Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK, said the investment was “an incredibly significant investment and will help individuals better manage their health and wellbeing, finances and balance work and care responsibilities”. This is urgently needed for unpaid carers who need extra support.”
She said: “I hope the Government can continue to support successful local projects so that unpaid carers can continue to benefit from effective support models.” .