Southwark Council says it’s ‘too soon’ to say whether the government’s £500 million social care boost means it can reverse adult social care cuts outlined in its budget.
The funding boost from central government was announced on Wednesday, January 24, after MPs and council bosses, had warned that the £64 billion provisional Local Government Settlement was inadequate.
Southwark’s Cabinet Member for Finance Stephanie Cryan was among them. She said the government’s “short-sighted” settlement was forcing the council to slash adult and children care services by £6.5 million in its latest budget.
http://southwarknews.co.uk/area/southwark/budget-summary-key-points-from-southwark-councils-budget/
But following the government’s latest announcement on Wednesday, January 24, a Southwark Council spokesperson said “it’s a little too soon to know exactly what this means” for adult social care in the borough.
They said it was unclear how much of the £500 million Southwark would receive and what conditions were attached to the funding.
The announcement from Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove came as local councils across the country are working out their budgets for the next financial year.
The government had earmarked £172 million for Southwark Council, increasing its spending power by 5.3 per cent.
However, in an interview with Southwark News last week, Cabinet Member for Finance Stephanie Cryan warned the settlement still failed to keep up with inflationary pressures.
More than 40 Conservative MPs wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to increase the funding settlement last week.
The government has now taken the unusual step of rejigging its funding package, pledging £600 million extra for councils across England, including £500 million for social care and £100 million in grant funding.
London Councils, a cross-party coalition of London borough governments, welcomed the announcement but said it still faced a £400 million shortfall.
Deputy Chair Claire Holland said: “While they will receive £77 million from the additional £500m to support adults’ and children’s social care, it is insufficient to meet the need and complexity of need of our residents.
“It is also very concerning that the formula used to distribute this funding takes no account of children’s social care needs. If it did, London boroughs would receive more than £100 million.”
The government said the package was possible because of the “significant progress” it had made towards halving inflation.