Ending local government austerity and investing in local public services
This Council notes that:
a)
Government grants to local authorities were cut by
40% in real terms between 2009/10 and 2019/20, from £46.5bn
to £28.0bn;
b)
as a result, between 2010 and 2019, more than
£30 billion in spending reductions (often termed austerity
measures) were made to welfare payments, housing subsidies and
social services in the UK;
c)
research shows these austerity measures have
contributed to 335,000 excess deaths, resulted in a fall in the UK
life expectancy, and culminated in UK workers being £11,000
worse off a year after years of wage stagnation;
d)
at the same time, there has been a huge surge in
demand for vital services provided by local authorities, such as
adult social care, which takes up about three-quarters of Local
Authority budgets. While the cost of
delivering these services per capita has seen above inflation cost
rises;
e)
spending on social care grew by an average of 2.6% a
year in real terms between 2014/15 and 2021/22;
f)
this is less than the 3.4% a year increase in
spending that the Health Foundation has calculated will be needed
between 2024/25 and 2032/33 to meet future demand. This is equal to
£8.3 billion overall;
g)
The National Audit Office has recognised that the
pressure on local authority finances “impacts on the funding
available for adult social care”;
h)
as a result of decreased funding and increased
demand for services, since 2021 six local authorities have declared
themselves effectively bankrupt, with many half of all councils
warning they may have to do the same in the next five years;
and
i) The Labour Party has not committed to increasing funding for local authorities, leaving the estimated £6bn black hole in council budgets unaddressed.
This Council believes that:
a)
cuts to the government grants provided to local
authorities must be reversed by the new government, in order to
sufficiently fund growing demand for key services such as adult
social care;
b)
without adequate funding, the increased financial
pressure from increased demand for these services is likely to have
serious negative financial implications for local authorities and
Darlington Borough Council; and
c) as well as increased funding, the UK government and local authorities must commit to improving the working conditions of social workers.
This Council resolves to:
a)
Write to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, and
relevant Ministers of State to call for an end to local government
austerity, and a significant and substantial investment in local
government and public services. This will include a call for a
sustained uplift to local authority funding to cover shortfalls in
adult social care, education, homelessness, and other key services.
It will also include an ask to provide multi-year funding
settlements.
b)
Work with providers, local NHS, and UNISON reps to
explore the Ethical Care Charter within the term of current
contracts, and report back to this council within six months on the
practicalities of adopting stage 1 of the charter by the end of
this Municipal Year, and proposals for adopting stages 2 and 3 of
the charter.
c) Ask the government to revive the Fair Funding Review for Adult Social Care, which was put on hold by the Conservative government, for which Darlington Borough Council and its care providers had already done significant preparatory work.