In response to today’s provisional local government settlement, Dr Rhidian Hughes, Chief Executive of the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) says:
‘Today’s announcement of the provisional local government settlement falls far short of what is needed to put social care on a surer footing.
‘The previously announced increases in national living wage are welcome but currently unfunded and coupled with much higher operating costs brought on by inflationary and other pressures. There are significant staff vacancies to fill which are being exacerbated by government’s approach to migration. Grants and optional council tax increases are not a sustainable way to fund councils.
‘Disability services rely on the state for funding and the government is again failing to support social care through today’s provisional settlement.
'The government has consistently refused to provide the funding and certainty councils urgently need. The LGA estimates councils in England face a £4 billion funding gap over the next two years just to keep essential services standing still. As a consequence, charities are left in an impossible situation; committed to delivering services but where operating costs outstrip commissioned fee rates.
‘There is little in today’s statement that reassures. 73% of charities are unable to meet the current demand for the public services they deliver with the funding they receive. Charities cannot do more.
'Without urgent action, essential services will cease to exist, the effect of which will be acutely felt by the NHS, local communities and especially those in our society who live in the most vulnerable circumstances.'
Notes
- For more information please contact Sarah Woodhouse, Head of Policy and Influencing, VODG by emailing [email protected]
- The Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) is the membership body representing over 145 voluntary sector organisations who support and work alongside disabled people. The combined turnover of our member organisations is £2.8 billion, employing 85,000 staff who support more than one million disabled people.
- The Provisional Local Government Settlement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/provisional-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2024-to-2025
- The LGA survey can be found here: https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/section-114-fear-almost-1-5-council-leaders-and-chief-executives-after-cashless-autumn
- VODG members fed into the recent NCVO research on the true cost of giving support to public services which found 73% of charities are unable to meet current demand for the public services they deliver. While underfunding is not a new problem, the impact of continued high inflation has put charities delivering public service contracts at crisis point: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/news-and-insights/news-index/true-cost-of-public-service-delivery/