CIPFA Social Care Policy Advisor, Dr William Burns, said:
Yesterday, the Chancellor scrapped the adult social care charging reforms. CIPFA will always support decisions which lead to better management of public finances and create greater efficiency for local authorities. In December 2023, CIPFA released a report on ‘Charging for adult social care in England ‘ which revealed that the proposed charging reforms were flawed, underfunded and would impose significant costs on local authorities. CIPFA finds that local authorities were not prepared for the reforms and had called for delay.
While it is important to make the payment system for adult social care fairer, urgent challenges must be addressed first. Issues include supporting local authorities to manage rising demand for services, and ensuring local authorities receive adequate, long-term settlements to plug the social care funding gap. Current system challenges need to be dealt with head on or we risk building a reformed social care system on weak foundations.
Notes to editor
- Read the Charging for adult social care in England report.
- For more information, please contact the CIPFA Press Office at press@cipfa.org.