Call for more government cash for social care

Andrew Jamieson is calling for support from the government to tackle the rising cost of adult social care

A council finance boss is calling for longer-term funding from the government to help cover the rising costs of adult social care.

Norfolk County Council is facing a budget shortfall of £44.7m for the financial year 2025-26.

So far, it has identified £33.55m of savings, with more than £11m still to find.

Andrew Jamieson, Conservative cabinet member for finance at the authority, said: “Having to do this year on year, not knowing what your revenue's going to be, makes it extremely difficult.”

'Completely unsatisfactory'

Under plans to close the funding gap, the council has earmarked £16.5m of savings from its adult social care budget.

Its children’s services department is facing cuts of £7m.

The authority is also looking at increasing council tax and considering three possible options - an increase of 3%, an increase of up to 5% or an increase of more than 5%.

“At the minute, we work on year-by-year funding settlements, which are completely unsatisfactory and unsuitable for an organisation which, after all, has a gross budget over £2bn,” Jamieson said.

Labour's first budget

The government is due to deliver its first budget on Wednesday 30 October.

The chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, will outline the government’s plans for raising or lowering taxes.

It will also include decisions on health, schools, police and other public services.

But Jamieson said councils needed multi-year funding settlements to help cope with a rise in demand for adult social care.

“I am hopeful the government will take a realistic view of the urgency of the need for financial reform in local authorities,” he said.

“It may be that this year - they've only just come into post after all - that it'll be a one-year solution.

“But I am extremely hopeful that, over the course of the next twelve months. we will see fundamental root-and-branch reform to many areas of our social services.”

In a statement, a government spokesperson said: “We recognise the challenges being faced by councils across the country and the scale and depth of the reforms needed in social care.

"To get local government back on its feet, we will work closely with councils to provide more stability through multi-year funding settlements, ending competitive bidding for pots of money and reforming the local audit system.”