The government has confirmed an additional £1.5bn for social care in 2020-21 in the Local Government Finance settlement.
This comprises £1 billion of additional grant – for both adult and children’s social care – and a proposed 2% council tax precept for adult social care, which will enable councils to access a further £500 million.
Local Government Finance:Written statement
The settlement was broadly welcomed by the Local Government Association, whose chair James Jamieson said:
“Extra funding for social care this year, council-tax raising powers and the continuation of key grants confirmed today are good news and will ensure councils can help older and disabled people to live more independently, support our most vulnerable young people and continue to deliver vital services.”
However, the LGA criticised the government’s failure to provide specific additional cash – which it estimated at £220m – to fund the impact on councils of this April’s 6.2% rise in the national living wage for over-25s, to £8.72 an hour, and 6.5% in the national minimum wage for those aged 21-24, to £8.20 an hour.