Problem here is central government has an out, it can dictate that councils for example should provide home helps and as we know we have an ageing population so those costs will escalate every year.
During my time as a school governor I saw time after time when central government came up with a great idea (one from memory was outdoor classrooms) and then devolved it to councils to deliver without any extra money.
When questioned the government would say ‘we gave x million extra to councils’ but most of this went in payrises for teachers as staffing is the biggest cost.
And don’t get me started on all of those outsourced contracts for bins, legal etc. As an accountant I can tell you businesses don’t work for free it is all built into the price that you and I pay in council tax.
I would argue that local decisions should be taken locally however what does some guy in whitehall know about bus services in Tyneside or the needs of welsh sheep farmers?
Decisions can be made locally with central funding. Public transport is different; it’s within the realms of “this is for everyone” where adult and children’s social care isn’t - they form a part of the health service and funding should be national and not dictated by how many people live in that council area.
This feels strange to me, surely the challenges of delivery home help in the far north of scotland is different from delivering it in central birmingham?
I don’t disagree with the fund centrally part, but I feel that more local decision taking is needed
The other thing to ask for is whose pocket (ultimately) is the money ending up in? All this additional money for adult social care and councils banging on about how the costs of social care are bleeding them dry, yet large amounts of care homes are owned by private equity, all sold off from local authority ownership. How can it cost thousands of pounds per week to keep children in childrens’ homes, or same for older people in care homes? I can’t imagine the staff on the frontline are being paid more than the NMW or a modest salary, so they certainly aren’t benefitting.
If you don’t then you’re just paying the same spread over 12 months not 10 months. So it’s not free or extra money just some people pay more over 10 months.
