LGA responds to ADASS Spring Survey

Responding to the ADASS Spring Survey, which found councils are being forced to cut back on early care and support to prevent people's health and wellbeing deteriorating, Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA Community Wellbeing Board said:

"This survey starkly shows councils are caught in the impossible position of having to choose between meeting people's complex care needs and supporting other people's wellbeing to prevent their needs from escalating. In this situation, councils cannot deliver the Government's ambition to shift care from hospital to community without sustainable funding for adult social care.

"Councils want to focus on prevention and help people stay independent at home, but rising costs and more people needing access to care is forcing them to prioritise crisis care instead.

"A promise to reform adult social care must be matched by long-term investment so councils can plan, recruit and deliver services that support people to live the life they want to lead and reduce pressure on the NHS. Local government is best placed to lead this shift and deliver neighbourhood-level care, but it cannot do so with one hand tied behind its back by underfunding."

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