Governments must act now on financial sustainability for local councils

Responding to Audit Wales’ report on the financial sustainability of local councils, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation Darren Hughes said:

“The financial sustainability of the whole public sector across the UK is becoming more and more of a concern.

“It is essential to the people of Wales that local councils are supported to achieve sustainability, given the public’s dependence on so many of their services. Underfunding council services has a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable in our society, further driving inequalities and having an adverse impact on health.

“We know that social care services, that keep people well and enable timely hospital discharge, are increasingly dominating councils’ budgets, both in terms of proportion and as the area with continuing rising costs. Concerns are now compounded by the uncertainty of the impact on social care providers of recent employers’ National Insurance increases and the rise in the Real Living Wage.

“Without a financial sustainability plan for local councils, we cannot expect a stable social care market, nor a sustainable NHS for the people of Wales. Governments must take head of warnings from Audit Wales, the WLGA and Care Forum Wales or risk worsening outcomes for those most in need.”