Briefings and responses

Supporting people with dementia is not just a health and social care issue. Achieving dementia friendly communities is the responsibility of many council departments, all of which are financially stretched.

Over the past decade, adult social care cost pressures have increased by £8.5 billion and total funding has increased by £2.4 billion. This has meant a gap of £6.1 billion needed to be managed.

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.

This briefing sets out the LGA's response to different parts of the government's plan for health and social care. While there have been potentially positive developments, we have serious concerns and question whether they make the kind of progress needed to help adult social care deliver for people. 

COVID-19 has brought into sharp relief the challenges facing adult social care, and in many cases exacerbated them, but it has also powerfully underlined the essential value of social care in supporting people to live the life they want to lead.

Councils are determined to prevent and stop domestic abuse in all its forms. They play a vital role protecting older people from abuse through a range of front-line services, and have a statutory responsibility for safeguarding vulnerable adults with care and support needs.

This briefing sets out the LGA's response to different parts of the Government's adult social care white paper chapter by chapter. While we fully support and endorse the positive framing of social care in the white paper, we question whether the funding set out matches the Government’s level of ambition.

This briefing provides an update of the ADASS Advice note 'Carers and Safeguarding Adults' produced in 2011 for frontline workers and brings it in line with the Care Act 2014. It is intended to be used as a practical tool and does not seek to amend or replace existing statutory guidance that may be in place. The briefing will support the improvement in practice regarding safeguarding adults as well as safeguarding their carers.

This briefing for practitioners is based on a literature review published in the Journal of Adult Protection in March 2022.

The perilous state of adult social care funding, and its serious consequences for people who draw on social care (or may need to do so in the near future), is unquestionable. Recent survey work by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) shows that just 12 per cent of directors are confident that they have the resources required to deliver all of their statutory duties.