In response to the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement of 6.5 per cent for 2024/25, Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, said:

“The writing is on the wall for Local Government. Without a paradigm shift in the Government strategy for social care, many care services will close. With inflation at 6.7 per cent in September of this year and with a National Living Wage increase of 9.8 per cent in April next year, a 6.5 per cent uplift is a long way from what the sector requires to even stand still. Put simply, current Government investment in the sector is not enough. The Local Government Association analysis shows funding gaps of £2.4 billion in 2023/24 and £1.6 billion in 2024/25 who also report 1 in 5 councils now fear issuing a Section 114 in the next year. This is a 100% increase in the last twelve months. Care providers are operating on unsustainable margins having already absorbed inflationary pressures over multiple years due to insufficient Government funding but we cannot continue to be called upon to fill the funding gap left by Government.”