GMB, the union for care home staff, is calling on all 15 councils in Yorkshire and the Humber with social care responsibilities to use to the full, their new powers to raise an additional £161.2m per annum on the council tax by 2019/20 to have for residential care.
Councils are allocated extra funds from the Better Care Fund so new money could total £335.9m for councils in the region by 2019/20 which must be spent on social care says GMB.
GMB, the union for care home staff, is calling on all 15 councils in Yorkshire and the Humber with social care responsibilities to use to the full, their new powers to raise an additional £161.2m per annum on the council tax by 2019/20 to have for residential care.
In the Spending Review authorities with social care responsibilities were given the flexibility to raise council tax in their area by up to 2% above the referendum threshold for each year between 2016-17 and 2019-20, to fund adult social care services. In addition the Government announced £1,500 million additional funding for local authorities to spend on adult social care by 2019-20, to be included in an improved Better Care Fund.
Using the 2% powers each year Leeds City Council can raise an additional £22.8m per annum by 2019/20, Sheffield can raise an additional £15.3m per year, North Yorkshire can raise an additional £22.4m per year and Bradford can raise an additional £14.4 m per year by 2019/20.
For Leeds City Council there is an additional £22.7m from the Better Care Fund giving a total of £45.5m new money for social care for 2019/20. For Sheffield there is an additional £21.9m from the Better Care Fund giving a total of £37.2m new money for social care for 2019/20. For North Yorkshire there is an additional £11m from the Better Care Fund giving a total of £33.3m new money for social care for 2019/20. For Bradford there is an additional £17.2m from the Better Care Fund giving a total of £31.6m new money for social care for 2019/20.
The details for all 15 councils in the region are set out in the table below. The table includes details of how the £173.8m additional Better Care Funds for the region is allocated for each of the 15 councils and the final column sets out the total new money for all 15 councils by 2019/20.
Rachel Dix, GMB Regional Officer for social care, said, "GMB is calling on all 15 councils in Yorkshire and the Humber responsible for social care to use to the full their new powers to raise an additional £162.2m per annum on the council tax by 2019/20 to raise desperately needed funds for residential care.
GMB has published this list of how much cash councils can raise to ensure that they immediately start to raise every pound they can under these new powers. GMB is also spelling out how much each council has been allocated from the Better Care Fund total to the region of £173.8m by 2019/20.
If social care is going to be adequately funded in future then increasing the tax base is an inevitable and important step along that road.
Allowing local authorities to raise council tax by 2% each year is only the start. This is because there are massive disparities in how much extra cash for care different councils will be able to generate. Some councils will be able to pay fair fees to providers, whilst others won't come close to bridging the funding gap. Where there is a funding shortfall the government must step and fill it.
We expect councils to spend every penny of this possible new money of £335.9m for the region on providing the care that our elderly and vulnerable deserve.”
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Contact: Rachel Dix 07958 156 839 or Neil Derrick 07958 156832 or Steve Jennings 07958 156831 or 01924 882255 or GMB Press Office: 07921 289880 or 07974 251823 or 020 7391 6755/56.
