A Conservative-run Reading would provide timely, compassionate, dignified care for our town’s vulnerable adults, supporting and maintaining their independence.
Reading Borough Council, as with any unitary local authority, has a statutory duty to provide personalised, practical support for people over eighteen who need adult social care.
As you would expect, those eligible for adult social care include older people, however the larger proportion of residents eligible in Reading are in fact working age adults with mental illness, learning or physical special needs.
This is a challenging environment. The pandemic has put hitherto unknown pressures on Reading’s adult social care provision and our most vulnerable residents.
The staff on the ground, carers, community groups and other volunteers deserve praise for their tremendous hard work and commitment tackling the challenges.
Most of us know at least one adult among our friends, relatives or in our local community, who is vulnerable and needs help with personal care, shopping and coping with everyday life.
These adults deserve dignity, for care to be tailored to their needs. We would provide each eligible person with continuity of care, so they know who is coming into their home, gaining not just essential care but more importantly, companionship from their caregivers and conversely their carers would get better job satisfaction.
This, in itself, would help promote a stable workforce, which is beneficial for everyone.
Turning to financial matters, in the current 2021/22 financial year, Reading’s Labour administration is on track to overspend significantly on the delivery of adult social care.
This is largely due to efficiency savings not being achieved, such as through improved contractual arrangements.
We have been told with much fanfare that an ‘additional’ £5m will be spent on the department next year, but this is only by comparison to the 2021/22 original budget.
It is just smoke and mirrors though.
When compared to the true level of expenditure this year, we find that the increase is just £0.8m, which doesn’t even cover inflation. Meanwhile, the number of people needing support is increasing and we can only wonder how the administration intends to address this.
Looking further ahead, there will be structural reforms to the provision of adult social care.
Good news for residents is that the savings threshold at which people will start having to pay towards their care will rise from £14,250 to £20,000, thanks to the Conservative Government. People will only pay for the full cost if their assets are more than £100,000 (currently £23,250).
In addition, the amount each person will pay for their care will be capped, again, thanks to the Conservative Government.
At the same time, the price that Reading Borough Council will pay for purchasing care will increase and they and other local authorities will be required to run a financial account for every individual receiving care.
This kicks in from October 2023, and will have significant cost and resourcing implications for Reading, just as it will across the country.
We are not seeing Reading’s Labour administration take the crucial steps needed to prepare for these reforms. We have yet to see a draft financial impact statement or a plan for engagement with central government to secure the funding that will be needed. This is too important to fail on and I urge the administration to get on with it.
At the operational level, last year I raised issues such as the need for more Occupational Therapists and the need for a smoother transition from Children’s to Adult Social Care. We have seen welcome progress on these. I also raised the need for extra care housing for younger vulnerable adults, a place for the assessment of younger adults and greater respite care provision. I understand that these should come online in 2024/25.
Although welcome, this is not soon enough for those vulnerable people passing through the system in the next two years and we need to see tangible steps to provide interim solutions until new facilities are ready.
Returning to the finances of adult social care, procedures and oversight of the accounts must be tightened. The overpayment of £1.2m to a care provider reported in January simply should not have been possible.
The accounts systems should prevent colossal overpayments such as this. With better financial management, improvements to the service residents receive can and should be delivered.
At the end of the day, what matters is delivering a high quality of life for each and every vulnerable resident in our town.
Cllr Isobel Ballsdon is the Conservative shadow spokesman for Adult Social Care, Reading Borough Council, and respresents Mapledurham Ward
