Cipfa calls for fair and sustainable social care charging reform
The representative body for public finance professionals has called for reform of adult social care charging after publishing a new report that criticised the existing system as unfair, unpredictable and complex.
Cipfa, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, called for adequate funding in the short-term for services to recover and to deal with current challenges, together with a commitment to adequate long-term funding to make services fit for the future.
The report said that any reforms must be equitable and not benefit or disadvantage one group in society over another, and that local authorities must be fully funded to implement the reforms.
Social care charging has become increasingly controversial, with proposed changes to limit the cost of care for individuals currently stuck in the long grass due to their cost, and concern over levels of social care debt for those receiving means tested, council-subsidised services.
A BBC report earlier this year found that around 60,000 people receiving social care services in the community faced debt collection procedures from their council relating to social care charge debts in 2021/22. The figures were supplied by 79 of 152 local authorities in England, suggesting that the true national total was much higher.
With the delay of the implementation of the government’s proposed adult social care charging reforms from October 2023 to October 2025, Cipfa said there was now the opportunity to take stock of the reforms and to consider possible routes forward.
Dr Will Burns, social care policy advisor for Cipfa, said: ‘The wider social care system is facing a myriad of challenges to do with workforce, unmet need, increasing demand, and the risk of market failure. Without stable and adequate long-term funding, effective public financial management is hindered. Short-term funding arrangements have impeded long-term planning, development, innovation and investment in social care. Charging reforms need to be fully funded for local authorities to implement them successfully.’
Cipfa’s report called for government to adopt measures including:
- Produce a new impact assessment for social care charging reform
- Provide a long-term social care funding settlement
- Improve access to social care
- Introduce a cap on care costs that includes local authority contributions
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