Annual adult social care spending in England is still £600m lower than in 2010, according to new analysis published today by the TUC.
The analysis finds that in 112 of the 150 responsible local authorities, social care spending per head of the population is still below 2010.
Spending per head is 8% below the level in 2010 for England overall. And regional reductions range from 18% in London, to 5% in the South East, East Midlands and East of England.
Fixing social care for better services and a stronger recovery
In his first speech as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson promised to ‘fix the crisis in social care once and for all’. But he’s still not set out any plans.
Today’s TUC report, Fixing social care: better quality services and jobs, sets out why the UK does not have a high-quality social care system, and how to improve it for those who use it, and those who work in it.
Social care in England has insufficient funding to meet demand, forcing councils to tighten eligibility and people to rely on informal care from family and friends. And it will be unable to meet future demand from a 49% increase in those aged 65+ by 2040.
Most care homes are run privately for profit. This directs public funds away from service users and squeezes pay and conditions for staff. Almost a quarter of social care staff have a zero-hours contract and 7 in 10 are paid less than £10 per hour. The sector has around 120,000 unfilled vacancies and an annual staff turnover rate of 31%.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“When the country needed them, social care workers stepped up. Care workers looked after older and disabled people in the midst of a pandemic, often without the right PPE, and often for low wages and no sick pay.
“Now it’s time to fix the broken system. Social care is badly underfunded. Pay and conditions for care workers are dreadful. And families can’t be sure of high-quality, affordable care when a family member needs it.
“As we face mass unemployment, ministers should act to unlock the 120,000 existing social care vacancies right now. And they should put investment in social care at the heart of our national recovery plan.
“Social care jobs should be decent jobs on fair pay, at the heart of every community. The TUC’s plan sets out how a full funding settlement for social care would work. Ministers can’t spend another decade hiding from the social care crisis.”
