Adult Social Care Statement from Cllr Mark Arnull, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council

Today’s announcement from the Prime Minister on adult social care is a welcome recognition of what councils have been saying for years: the adults and children social care system is under immense strain and can no longer be ignored. The Government is right to acknowledge that decades of delay have l...

However, we need immediate action to address the immediate pressures facing local authorities such as West Northamptonshire. We are already dealing with significant financial pressures across adult and children's services, alongside growing demand and ever escalating costs for care and support. Like many councils, we are being asked to meet spiralling costs and do more while the funding system continues to leave areas such as ours disadvantaged. Local government cannot be expected to deliver a National Care Service on a fixed local budget whilst having to meet open ended and ever increasing costs associated with the statutory requirements that we have to meet. 

West Northamptonshire residents rightly expect high-quality care for older people, adults with disabilities and those with complex needs. We share the Government’s ambition to improve outcomes and raise the status of the care workforce, but ambitions must be matched by sustainable funding. The reality is that councils are currently carrying the risk, while demand continues to rise and costs continue to increase. 

If the Government is serious about reform, it must also be serious about fairness. Areas like West Northamptonshire need a funding settlement that properly reflects demand, growth, and the true cost of delivering care. Too often councils outside the major metropolitan areas find themselves expected to meet growing need without receiving a fair share of national resources.

We are working tirelessly in West Northamptonshire to protect frontline services while managing substantial budget pressures. Genuine social care reform must include genuine funding reform. Otherwise, councils will continue to face impossible choices between balancing the books and meeting the needs of their most vulnerable residents.

I welcome the fact that social care is finally being treated as a national priority. But local government needs more than another conversation, we need fair funding, long-term certainty and a partnership with Government that recognises the pressures councils are already carrying on behalf of their communities.