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Autumn Statement: chancellor announces £2.8bn social care funding increase next year
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced plans to raise social care spending by £2.8bn in 2023 by delaying implementing recommendations in the Dilnot Report.
Combined with additional funding for adult social care, the chancellor said that social care funding would rise by £2.8bn in 2023 and up to £4.7bn in 2024.
Delivering the Autumn Statement to parliament earlier today, Mr Hunt confirmed that the measures set out in the Dilnot Report will be delayed for two years to give councils breathing space to increase social care spending.
He said: “I also heard very real concerns from local authorities, particularly about their ability to deliver the Dilnot reforms immediately.
“So I will delay the implementation of this important reform for two years, allocating the funding to allow local authorities to provide more care packages.
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“How we look after our most vulnerable citizens is not just a practical issue, it speaks to our values as a society. So today’s decision will allow the social care system to deliver an estimated 200,000 more care packages over the next two years – the biggest increase in funding under any government of any colour in history.”
The Dilnot Commission was set up by former prime minister David Cameron in 2010 with the aim of overhauling the care sector. The recommendations that were delivered in 2011 included a more generous means-tested threshold for people in care, a cap on care costs and disability benefits to support independence.
Mr Hunt also said that he was looking to help the NHS cut costs of looking after older people who were in long-term care in a hospital environment.
“I want the social care system to help free up some of the 13,500 hospital beds that are occupied by those who should be at home. So I’ve decided to allocate for adult social care additional grant funding of £1bn next year and £1.7bn thereafter,” he said.
The chancellor also announced that he has tasked the Department for Work and Pensions to look into how it can help bring up to 600,000 people who are currently on Universal Credit back into work by allowing them to meet with a work coach. The aim of the coach meetings would be to find ways to either increase hours or earnings.
The latest measures from Mr Hunt said the work coach proposal contrasts with former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s plan, whose Mini Budget delivered only two months ago, which stated the government could cut benefits unless people took action to get into work.
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