£4.8bn in Budget to local governments to plug social care; Alzheimer’s Society responds by saying ‘not enough’

To keep up with current demographic projections and expected changes to the National Living Wage, there needed to have been an additional £3.9bn to adult social care, per annum, in today’s Budget.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, did not announce any additional funding for social care. The Chancellor did announce an additional £4.8bn over the next three years for local government; of which less than £1bn per annum can be expected to be allocated to adult social care.
 
60 per cent of people receiving home care and at least 70 per cent of people in care homes have dementia. Alzheimer’s Society responds to this announcement. 
 
Gavin Terry, Head of Policy at Alzheimer’s Society said:  
 
'After twenty months of devastation and trauma for people affected by dementia, the Chancellor has today added to their despair by effectively dealing them a real-terms spending cut to adult social care. With this cut, the Government have pulled the rug from under their own reform plans. 

'While some additional local funding has been announced, it’s nowhere near enough to prop up social care until 2023. This will only lead to the increased rationing of care, which is already spread dangerously thin.

As the largest users of social care, hundreds of thousands of people with dementia and their families are desperate for support now.  

'It’s a decision we’ve seen time again from successive Governments – but it doesn’t have to be this way. The Government must grasp the opportunity of the upcoming white papers to focus on the quality of social care.

'By transforming quality, with better training and personalised care, social care can be something we are all be proud of, that meets the needs of everyone wherever they are.'