New IFS report warns of inconsistent social care funding

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a new report, funded by the Health Foundation, which has found that local authority revenues are unlikely to keep pace with the rising costs of adult social care services. 

The report, Adult social care funding: a local or national responsibility? found that changes to local authority funding mean councils will be depend on council tax and business rates for the majority of their funding, but social care will require an increasing share of this revenue, leading to difficult choices for councils.

Commenting on the report, Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research & Economics at the Health Foundation, said: ‘This important research is more evidence that there is an urgent need for reforming social care funding.

‘The increasing pressures on the social care system are impacting on the quality of care people receive, causing additional delays in the NHS, and squeezing the budgets of other council-funded services.

‘With a funding gap of £2.5bn by 2019/20, any reform to social care will require additional funding, and clear communication with the public of who will be expected to pay for it.

‘Ahead of the promised green paper in the summer, the Health Foundation and King’s Fund will be publishing research looking at different options for funding social care, and exploring public knowledge and opinion on this important but often misunderstood issue.’

Media contact

Jack Cutforth
jack.cutforth@health.org.uk
020 7664 4623