Nottinghamshire Council spends hundreds of millions of pounds on adult social care
Nottinghamshire Council spent hundreds of millions of pounds on providing adult social care last year as spending on services across England reached a record high, new figures show.
In his autumn statement, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a further £4.7 billion for adult social care up to 2024-25, aimed at aiding hospital discharge rates and freeing up beds and providing local authorities with more money for services.
But health think-tank Nuffield Trust said budgets are being stretched due to inflationary pressures and the system needs long-term funding to address severe workforce and capacity shortages.
NHS Digital figures show total expenditure on adult social care in Nottinghamshire was £422.1 million in the year to March.
Of this, £99.2m was spent on council-run services, £322.8m on external businesses offering adult social care, and £17,741 on grants to charities to provide support.
The council can offset the amount it spends on providing care through various income and funding streams, such as investment from the NHS and joint arrangements with patients.
Last year, it received £86.3m, meaning its gross spending on adult social care was £334.6m, up from £315.9m in 2020-21.
Despite the continued rise in investment, the Nuffield Trust said the money falls short of what is needed.
Natasha Curry, trust deputy director of policy, said: “While spending on adult social care has risen for six years in a row, it followed steep cuts between 2010 and 2015.
“The extra funding announced was welcome, but likely will only keep pace with inflationary pressures."
Across England, almost 2m new requests for care support were made last year, up from 1.9m last year. Of them, 31,315 were made in Nottinghamshire, an increase from 26,870 in 2020-21.
Ms Curry said: “The system needs long-term funding with a focus on addressing serious workforce shortages and limited capacity if we are to see tangible change in the quantity and quality of care available.”
The Department for Health and Social Care said it “prioritised health and social care in the autumn statement” with up to £7.5bn in investment made available in the next two years.
A spokesman said the Government is investing £15m in international recruitment and is running its annual domestic recruitment campaign to address workforce shortages.