New social care assessments are time and energy-intensive and have created additional workload for councils, which needs to be funded, the LGA has said.
Five local authorities piloted the Care Quality Commission’s new assurance process for adult social care last year.
The LGA, in partnership with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), interviewed directors from the trial local authorities, who reported “the workload is immense and adult social care departments will not have experienced anything like this for a decade”.
Consequently, the LGA is calling for a guarantee of adequate ‘new burdens’ funding for the process, and sufficient advance notice of the assessments for councils. The roll-out of the scheme in England begins this month.
Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “While councils are very willing to participate in this process, the current precarious position of adult social care must be recognised.
“Despite unmet and under-met need remaining concerningly high, councils received no additional funding for adult social care in the Autumn Statement [nor the provisional local government finance settlement].
“The added workload these assessments are causing for councils must be addressed and councils should be given appropriate additional funding and support in order to participate in them effectively.”
Cathie Williams, ADASS Chief Executive, said social care teams are already under pressure with growing numbers of people needing care, budgets under severe strain and high levels of vacancies.
“To ensure assurance doesn’t take away from support going to people who need social care, the Government must provide local authorities with additional funding and resource to carry this out.”