Government's extra funding for social care 'will not fill black hole'

Government announces £900m in extra funding for adult social care

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said council tax bills would rise by £1 a month to pay for adult social care (Getty)

The Government has announced it will create a new £240m fund for adult social care and at the same time bring forward the increase in the so-called social care precept, creating what it says will be an additional £900m for social care over the next two years.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid told the house the new fund would come from savings made by reforms to the New Homes Bonus, a scheme that incentivises local authorities to build more housing.

Mr Javid said allowing councils to raise taxes earlier than planned and using the money for social care – the social care precept – will add “£1 a month” to most council tax bills.

Labour said the sums would not come close to filling the “social care black hole”, which has been estimated at more than £2bn.

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat former health minister, said it was “a feeble response to a national crisis”.

Labour’s Clive Efford said: “We have a gaping wound and the Government has come here with a sticking plaster. It’s just not good enough.”