Briefings and responses

There is cross-party consensus within local government that integration is the only way to achieve a sustainable and effective health and care service.

Since March (2016), the establishment of 44 Sustainability and Transformation Plans has continued apace, with each required to draft proposals to transform local health and care services.

COVID-19 has put adult social care firmly in the public, political and media spotlight. This emergency has highlighted the essential value of social care to the wider public and this interest needs to be harnessed in the debate about the future of care and support. Long-term reform is urgently needed and we are calling on the Government to set out its thinking before the summer recess.

The information contained in this briefing draws on a wide range of feedback from councils.

This joint briefing note for clinical commissioning groups (CCG), local authority learning disability commissioners and Directors of Housing has been prepared by NHS England and NHS Improvement, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care (ADASS).

Adult social care must be treated as a national priority. It is a vital public service that supports people with physical and learning disabilities, those with mental health issues and older people and their carers to live their lives in the way they want.

COVID-19 has put adult social care firmly in the public, political and media spotlight. This emergency has highlighted the essential value of social care to the wider public and this interest needs to be harnessed in the debate about the future of care and support. Long-term reform is urgently needed and we are calling on the Government to set out its thinking at the earliest opportunity.

The issue of relatively low pay in the social care sector is highlighted regularly and the settlement in the Spending Round provides resources to begin to address this challenge. In the long term the low pay needs to be addressed as part of the arrangements for the future funding of both adult and children’s social care.

Together with NHS England, local authorities and the LGA have undertaken a range of measures to improve preparedness for winter.

We estimate that local government faces an overall funding gap of £5.8 billion by 2019/20, taking into account future funding and the full range of pressures facing councils.