Adult social care funding focus for council leader in national role

Shaun Davies, Labour leader of Telford & Wrekin Council was confirmed as the chair of the Local Government Association's (LGA) resources board on Wednesday.

The LGA is effectively the voice of councils across the country – representing their issues to government.

The role will include liaising with the Government over funding for councils, as well as the Department of Work & Pensions on the issue of welfare, looking at Universal Credit and housing benefits.

The issue of funding for adult social care has been an increasing problem for councils across the country, with the Government making a specific allowance for councils to increase council tax by two per cent, to be specifically spent on adult social care.

Conservative-run Shropshire Council has previously been vocal about the need for greater funding from government to help tackle the issue.

Councillor Davies said that the focus in his role would be providing a cross-party, non-party-political approach to find solutions to the issues and put forward ideas to the government.

It will make a change from the partisan politics seen on Telford & Wrekin Council, which is characterised by an abrasive relationship between the ruling Labour group and opposition Conservatives.

Councillor Davies said: "This is about cross-party working – working with the government and not against the government."

He added: "If you go back 10 years the vast majority of councils, if not all, the majority of their income would come from government grants. Fast-forward ten years and the biggest source of income is council tax.

"That is okay in certain areas where you have high council tax rate and a high council tax base but in other areas – like Telford & Wrekin – where you have a lower council tax rate and lower council tax base that feeds into adult social care funding and at the moment people are paying money directly into adult social care but that is not enough."

He added: "At the moment it is a sticking plaster approach with the precept and it is not raising enough money. Also it is not fair because if you are in a more affluent area with a higher council tax rate and a higher council tax base you are raising more money. You are also more likely to have more self funders who have assets to use. It is almost the wrong way round – those areas with high demand for social care are raising less money than other areas."

Councillor Davies said there would also be discussion over business rate retention.

He said: "Over the last eight years government have been talking about allowing councils to retain 100 per cent of the business rates they collect and there have been pilots around that but that that is a reform that has big question marks around it."