Govt must act over dire social care warnings, says ICG

The Independent Care Group is calling on the Government to wake up to dire warnings over the imminent collapse of care for older, vulnerable and disabled adults.

The call to act follows a major survey which found that 22% of providers were planning to close their businesses entirely with more set to make staff redundant.

The warning comes after the Government announced a rise in employer National Insurance payments and increases in the national living and minimum wages.

The ICG says the Government has to wake up to the situation.

“I think there is a danger that the Government is sleepwalking into a very dangerous situation for care in this country,” ICG Chair Mike Padgham warned.

“I fear it seriously underestimated the impact the National Insurance and wage increases would have on a sector that has been brutally neglected for three decades.

“With today’s survey results warning of dire consequences, the Government has to act and either make the sector exempt from the ENIC increase or ensure that there is funding ring-fenced with local authorities to help us pay it.”

Earlier research by the Nuffield Trust estimated that social care providers would face an increase of £2.8bn in costs due to National Insurance and wage increases. It warned that the “…combined financial impact of the ENIC rise and the new minimum wage level might see not just single providers going out of business but large swathes of the market collapsing.”

Today’s survey of 1,180 care providers, carried out by the Care Provider Alliance, found that 22% of those who responded were planning to close their business; 73% will have to refuse new referrals from local authorities or the NHS; 57% planned to hand back some contracts and 64% feared having to make staff redundant.

Mr Padgham added: “We have long argued that the social care sector was teetering on the brink of collapse and feared that it might just take one thing to tip it over the edge – we might just have reached that point.

“Whilst government after government have been able to ignore the quiet erosion of the sector through the loss of smaller providers over the years, they will not be able to turn a deaf ear on an avalanche of provider closure, if the results of this survey are borne out.”

Sign the petition over National Insurance increase, ICG urges

The Independent Care Group is urging all social care providers, the entire sector workforce and the public to urgently sign a petition which calls on the Government to exempt social care from the rise in employer’s National Insurance.

They say the survival of social care services, along with jobs and workforce pay are all at risk if the National Insurance increase goes ahead.

The petition has already passed 10,000 signatures, which requires a response from the Government. Now campaigners are targeting 100,000 signatures, which would mean the petition would be considered for debate in Parliament.

The care provider organisation, The Independent Care Group (ICG) is concerned that the increase in National Insurance will place a further financial burden on care providers.

It is worried some providers will close, leading to an increase in the 2m people who currently can’t get care. It says the added NI cost, on top of increases in the National Living and National Minimum wages, could push providers over the edge.

It is backing the petition and urging everyone who works in, benefits from or cares about social care, to sign it.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “For care providers, this could well be about survival and for the workforce it is about their jobs and their pay, so it is vital that we get up to 100,000 signatures.

“With 1.7m people working in social care, hundreds of thousands of families benefiting from it and the public, it should be possible to reach that figure.

“That would demonstrate to the Government a level of feeling, worry and concern about the impact the increase in employer’s National Insurance will have of the care of older, vulnerable and disabled adults.

“It is good to hear that hospices are to be given some support in meeting this extra cost, but we must go further and ensure that all bodies delivering care to the public sector get help in meeting this burden.”

He said the Government either had to make social care providers exempt from the National Insurance increase or ring-fence funding with local authorities, that commission the bulk of care, to pay for the rise.

In the Autumn Statement the Chancellor increased employer’s National Insurance and also confirmed that the National Living Wage will go up to £12.21 an hour and the National Minimum Wage, for those aged 18 to 20, up to £10 an hour next spring.

The link to the petition is:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700080#:~:text=Petition%20Exempt%20all%20social%20care,by%20funding%20and%20staffing%20issues

ICG backs grassroots campaign over National Insurance hike

The Independent Care Group has thrown its weight behind a national campaign urging the Government to rethink budget measures they fear will cause services to collapse.

The ICG has signed up to the Providers Unite campaign, which is launched today (12 November).

Representing hundreds of social care providers across the country, Providers Unite is a grassroots campaign which centres on an impassioned plea to the Chancellor to look at the impact the increase in employer’s National Insurance and in living and minimum wages would have on social care.

It warns of a “systematic collapse of community care services across Britain” if the measures go ahead.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “Today is a pivotal day for adult social care and it is vital that we get the message across that these budget-driven increases could have devastating consequences for the safe delivery of care for hundreds of thousands of older, vulnerable and disabled people.

“The Government has to act – either by reversing the National Insurance increase for our sector or by ring-fencing additional funding to help providers meet the increase and the wages rise next spring.

“Otherwise, the result doesn’t bear thinking about for social care in this country.”

The Providers Unite letter to the Chancellor calls upon her to recognise social care as an “indispensable pillar in Britain’s healthcare infrastructure”, providing care to 1.2m people and employing almost 1.6m.

It warns of the profound impact of the proposed tax increases on people who rely on social care providers, who, like GPs, pharmacies and hospices, are independent businesses providing public care.

The letter, signed by dozens of care provider bodies, says providers could face a cost increase of up to 12% due to the National Insurance and wage increases.

Calling on the Chancellor to review the increases for social care providers, the letter adds that the sector is facing an £8.4bn funding shortfall.

This week, Mr Padgham also urged people to sign a petition to get the budget changes debated in Parliament. At the moment the petition has around 16,000 signatures. Having reached 10,000 it will elicit a response from the Government, but campaigners want to get to 100,000 signatures, which could trigger a debate.

Mr Padgham added: “For care providers, this could well be about survival and for the workforce it is about their jobs and their pay, so it is vital that we get up to 100,000 signatures.”

In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor increased employer’s National Insurance, lowered the threshold at which NI is paid and also confirmed that the National Living Wage will go up to £12.21 an hour and the National Minimum Wage, for those aged 18 to 20, up to £10 an hour next spring.

The link to the petition is:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700080#:~:text=Petition%20Exempt%20all%20social%20care,by%20funding%20and%20staffing%20issues