Social care set for £7m boost to meet rising costs

The increase follows feedback from providers over costs like National Insurance and wage rises

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is set to approve an extra £7m for adult social care services to help suppliers meet rising costs.

Care homes and providers - some of whom challenged the previous settlement at the High Court - have told the authority increases in National Insurance and the National Living Wage have pushed their costs up.

The council's previously suggested fee rises of 2-4% would typically increase to 5-7% under the revised plans for the coming year.

The proposal will be discussed by the authority's cabinet on 29 April.

In January, the High Court ordered the council to reconsider its 1.4% fee rise for the 2024-25 financial year, after Staffordshire Care Association challenged how the decision was reached.

Although the rise was later confirmed, council officers warned that "members should read this judgement in full" before considering this year's fees.

Sustainable care market

In a consultation in December and January, providers from different sectors told the council that staffing costs would rise by up to 10% because of changes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in October's budget.

The Labour-run authority has assessed those rises, along with general inflationary pressures, to come up with new rates for firms providing residential and at-home care.

Despite the council's own financial challenges, cabinet members have been warned they have to follow government guidance and maintain a "sustainable" care market.

The authority's budget for this year had initially allowed for a planned increase of about £6m for social care.

The report to councillors said that while an additional £1.1m would be provided centrally, the service would have to "actively work to reduce expenditure and mitigate the additional costs over the course of the financial year".