The Deputy Leader of Nottingham City Council, Councillor Graham Chapman, is urging the Government to listen to their own Conservative MPs on social care as Prime Minister Theresa May and local government secretary Sajid Javid face a rebellion over funding for local councils.
But Councillor Chapman has also warned the Government that any attempt to head off the funding crisis in social care by bringing back the unfair Transition Grant scheme which gave millions to better off councils while places like Nottingham got nothing, would be totally unacceptable.
Shrewsbury MP, Daniel Kawczynski is leading the call from Conservative MPs for answers on care for the elderly, using last Wednesday’s Prime Ministers Questions to highlight the £10 million gap Shropshire Council (in Mr Kawcyznski’s Constituency) has in its adult social care budget.
This echoes the concerns of Councillor Chapman who has been calling for more funding from central Government to help with the rising costs of care for elderly and disabled people in Nottingham and across the country.
The Government now faces possible defeat on the Local Government Finance Settlement Bill next week unless it comes up with additional and fair funding for social care.
Councillor Chapman said: “The under-funding of care for elderly and disabled people is a national crisis that requires a national answer. I welcome the comments by Daniel Kawczynski and other MPs who are trying to force the Government to provide a fairer funding system for local councils.
“In Nottingham, the cost of care for the elderly is set to rise by £12million in the year ahead but the money the council receives from the Government for day-to-day services has been cut by two-thirds since 2013.
“The Government has added an extra 3% to council tax through the social care precept but that raises nowhere near the amount needed and simply loads the cost of paying for a Government responsibility onto the local council tax payer.
“We need the Government to come up with a fair and lasting solution to the social care crisis. The return of the discredited and unfair Transition Grant scheme, which favoured better-off places in the south of the country while places like Nottingham got nothing, would be completely unacceptable.”