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Written question asked by Lord Mawhinney (Conservative) on Thursday, 13 October 2016, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 27 October 2016. It was answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative) on Monday, 24 October 2016 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Social Services: Finance

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial resources they transferred to local authorities in 2015–16 which were designated to be spent on personal social services care; and what is their estimate of how much was spent on the provision of such services.

Answer

Central government does not determine the level of resources spent by local authorities on adult social care. Each local authority will budget for what it expects to require in order to deliver the services required for their population, drawing on funding from local taxes, unhypothecated central government grant and income from fees and charges.

However recognising the pressures on local authorities, the Spending Review 2015 announced that for the rest of the current Parliament, local authorities responsible for adult social care (“ASC authorities”) would be allowed an additional 2 percent on their current council tax referendum threshold to be used entirely for adult social care. 144 of 152 eligible authorities made use of this precept in 2015-16, raising £382 million for social care.

My department publishes data (attached) from local authorities on their spending on all services. Provisional data for 2015-16 suggests that local authorities spent a net figure of £14.4 billion on adult social care in 2015-16.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/548114/RO_Provisional_Outturn_2015-16_Statistical_Release.pdf

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL2306
Session
2016-17
Attachment
Statistical Release - HL2306
Subjects
Finance Social services
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk