'We don’t think government fully understands the true cost of this' - West Sussex County Council leader on social care reforms

Paul Marshall spoke during a meeting of the full council on Friday (October 14) where he told councillors that it could cost the authority between £30m and £35m to implement the reforms next year.

Mr Marshall said social care was second only to climate change on the list of issues the council had to address.

Last year alone, £18m in increased costs was given to the 400 care providers which work with the council.

He added: “We don’t think government fully understands the true cost of this.

“It’s absolutely key that we continue to pressure government to recognise that true cost of care – and for them to recognise that they need to meet that cost.

“We cannot sustain a £30m bill next year in implementing this adult social care reform.

“Because if we did, something’s going to have to give.”

The problem for council’s across the country is that too little is known about when exactly the reforms will come into play and how much financial help each authority will receive to put them in place.

As such, a notice of motion was tabled by Janet Duncton (Con, Petworth), calling on Mr Marshall to write to the government to ask for the timetable and for enough funding to make sure the changes have a minimum impact on the council’s budget.

The County Councils Network – a cross-party group representing authorities in England – has called for the reforms to be postponed until 2024.

The group argued that the care system is facing a ‘perfect storm’ of financial and workforce pressures.

The latter point was picked up by Dr Kate O’Kelly (Lib Dem, Midhurst) who told the meeting that losing EU staff had ‘clearly been significant’.

She added: “We have a burnt out NHS workforce who have been heroes during the pandemic and are now on the verge of strike action – and a government who have spent years saying they have sorted things when they just haven’t.”

Staffing and funding are obviously key but Natalie Pudaloff (Labour, Northgate & West Green) got right to the heart of the matter – people.

She spoke about families being concerned about how they would pay for a loved-one’s care, care workers ‘living off next to nothing’, and the pressures forced on people by increased costs.

Garry Wall (Con, Lindfield & High Weald) called on Mr Marshall to lobby the government ‘in the strongest possible terms’.

He added: “This council faces many challenges but perhaps none more so than the proposed changes to adults social care.

“The potential impact on the services due to the lack of funding – or indeed the uncertainty that surrounds the roll-out of the reforms – can’t be under-estimated.

“It’s not just the social care service sector that bears the brunt of those challenges.

“The knock-on effect across the NHS services due to a shortfall in care provision will also put extra pressure on an already stretched service sector.”