Agenda item

Nicola Morton (Head of Local Government Finance) introduced the report and explained that it reported on LGFA activity on the provisional 2017/18 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) which had been announced on 15 December 2016, including the LGA’s response to the consultation.

Members noted that no new funding had been announced in the LGFS, but there had been reallocation within totals of funding streams, most notably a reduction of £241 million in the New Homes Bonus to pay for a one year only Adult Social Care Support Grant. The response to the LGFS had focussed mainly on the New Homes Bonus and the impact on local authorities, and the Chairman and Group Leaders would be meeting with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 19 January to discuss this. A briefing for parliamentarians would be circulated prior to the debate on the LGFS in the House of Commons.

In the discussion which followed Members raised the following points:

·         Concern was raised the that the reduction in the New Homes Bonus was greater than the amount authorities could raise in council tax for adult social care. This was unhelpful as councils thought they were signing up to a four year settlement, but house building authorities would be penalised.

·         The LGA had undertaken good work to keep adult social care funding on the agenda as this would continue to be an increasing cost and a significant issue for local authorities. The solution was not to move money between different funding streams, but for the Government to fully fund adult social care top address the funding crisis.

·         Local authorities were best placed to make decisions on local asocial care provision, and the service would not be better managed if it was moved to the NHS. Better funding would lead to less bed-blocking which exacerbated problems in local services for elderly and disabled people. The LGA was working with the NHS, charities and care providers to lobby for full funding of children’s and adult social care.

·         In addition to funding pressures, legislative pressures should be noted as a challenge for councils.

·         Further work should be undertaken on preventative measures to stop people requiring adult social care in the first instance. If investment was made into prevention it would stop certain cases requiring acute care and enable them to stay in their homes for longer. A lot of work had been done in conjunction with the Community Wellbeing Board on prevention and this work would continue through the LGA Care and Health Improvement team.

Decision

The Resources Board noted the update on the Local Government Finance Settlement and the LGA’s response to the consultation.