A campaign to make the government more transparent in its social care funding decisions is launching this September.
It comes from Access Social Care which has made freedom of information requests on funding decisions to three government departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care.
While the information commissioner has ruled it is in the public interest for this funding information to be shared, the government has appealed on the grounds that ‘live’ public policy decisions should remain private. A judgement is expected soon.
Meanwhile, the Access Social Care charity has posed further requests for information.
Kari Gerstheimer, Access Social Care CEO and Founder, said: “We are putting pressure on the new government to be more transparent in its funding decisions. We want to make sure the right evidence is considered.
“We want to get the social care sector and the public behind us and will launch a public crowdfunding campaign in September. Legal fees are very expensive and if every social care provider puts £200 in the pot, we’ll be covered.”
Government officials maintain that social care is adequately funded but providers and social care recipients have a wealth of evidence to the contrary.
One provider, Mencap, says that proper social care funding is a gateway to happy healthy lives for people with learning disabilities. Without it, people miss out on the care that can help them integrate into local communities.
In addition, a new report from ADASS (Association of Directors of Adult Social Services) found that adult social care budgets in 2023/24 were overspent by £586 million, the highest level for a decade.
It said that most local authority social care directors were unsure about funding their statutory duties for the year 2024/5, and carrying out tasks that had been the responsibility of NHS staff had placed an additional burden on social care staff.
← Back to News
