Sajid Javid announces £150m social care boost amid warnings over council funding

Local authorities will receive £150m for stretched social care services amid reports that at least 10 councils are preparing to impose emergency spending controls due to significant financial pressures.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced the extra cash for councils to see off a potential Tory revolt on the new local government funding settlement, which is set to go before MPs for approval on Wednesday.

Town-hall funding has become a stumbling block for Theresa May as backbench Conservatives are concerned over how cash-strapped councils will cope with spiralling social care needs from the growing elderly population.

It comes as Tory-led Northamptonshire County Council became the first local authority in nearly 20 years to ban all but essential new spending at the weekend amid major financial pressures.

In a written statement, Mr Javid said: “Having listening to representations since the provisional settlement, I am today announcing a further £150m in 2018-19 for an adult social care support grant.

“This will be taken from anticipated underspend in existing departmental budgets, and will not affect existing revenue commitments made ‎to local government.

“This will be allocated according to relative needs and we will expect to see councils use it to build on their progress so far in supporting sustainable local care markets.”

Rural authorities will also receive an additional £16m to deliver services, following pressure from several Tory backbenchers over heightened costs of delivering elderly care in isolated areas.

​MPs raised concerns about the possible collapse of vital services in Northamptonshire after the council was forced to issue a section 114 notice banning all non-emergency spending.

Shadow Communities Secretary Andrew Gwynne cited reports that at least 10 other local authorities were prepared to issue section 114 notices, as he railed against “catastrophic” mismanagement of local services.

Speaking in the Commons, he said: “The failure of this Tory-run council is the result of a perfect storm of chronic underfunding and catastrophic Tory mismanagement.

“But when a Government has taken £5.8bn out of local government finance, when everyone is saying that social care is on its knees, when children’s services needs another £2bn, this Secretary of State not only doesn’t turn up to an urgent question, he sticks his head in the sand and fails to give local government the money it needs to provide safe, decent, quality services.”

Local government minister Rishi Sunak said the Government had sent in an independent inspector to Northamptonshire, and that it would be wrong to prejudice the investigation, which is due to report back in March.

He also said the council had been clear that statutory services and its safeguarding of vulnerable people would continue, and staff would continue to be paid.

“Maybe he would do well to listen to the words of the CEO of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, who said while Northamptonshire has had a difficult context with which to balance its budget, other councils in a similar situation have successfully managed their budgets,” said Mr Sunak.

“The issue is around governance and culture. These were the things that were highlighted and that is what the inspector will be considering.”

Mr Sunak later said it would be “wholly inappropriate” to comment on rumours that other councils were at risk of issuing section 114 notices.

The revised local government funding settlement will be debated in the Commons on Wednesday.