No new powers for council tax rises to fund social care in Wales
With social care in the news this month in England and Wales, the Welsh Government has said there will be no powers for local authorities to raise council tax to fund social care in Wales.
Councils in England are being allowed to raise the tax by 6% over two years to plug a care funding gap.
Speaking on a special social care edition of the Wales Report on February 8 alongside CFW chair Mario Kreft, Minister for Social Services and Public Health Rebecca Evans said increasing the tax was not "fair" and "not an approach we're taking". Watch the programme here.
The Welsh Local Government Association has warned councils face a £92m social care 'black hole' in 2017-18 and experts say the cost of providing care could double to £2.3bn by 2030.
CFW chair Mario Kreft told viewers that even in a “relatively mild winter we're seeing huge pressures" in Wales and across the UK. "This should be no surprise to anybody," he said. “The reality is that we are a million miles away from where we need to be, where we could've been, and we need a wake up call.”
CFW's lead on dementia care was also in the media this month – listen to Steve Ford on Radio Wales' Eye On Wales alongside Older People's Commissioner Sarah Rochira here.
