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<p>Ahead of the Spending Review, the Local Government Association estimated the gap
in adult social care funding to be £2.9 billion - arising from a growing elderly population
and introduction of the National Living Wage.</p><p>At Spending Review the Government
outlined a package of support worth up to £3.5 billion to ensure councils are able
to support some of their older and most vulnerable residents. That included giving
authorities with social care responsibilities the flexibility to raise council tax
in their area by up to 2% above the referendum threshold for each year between 2016-17
and 2019-20, to fund adult social care services. It is also providing £1500 million
additional funding for local authorities to spend on adult social care by 2019-20,
to be included in an improved Better Care Fund. Taken together, these measures provide
significant resources to address the demographic pressures facing the social care
system.</p><p>In terms of what the social care flexibility could raise, I refer the
hon. Member to information accompanying the provisional local government finance settlement
2016-17, which my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government (Greg Clark), announced to the House on 17 December 2015, <em>Official
Report</em>, Column 1722. This can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-in-2016-to-2017"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-in-2016-to-2017</a>
and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486708/Core_spending_power_supporting_information.xlsx"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486708/Core_spending_power_supporting_information.xlsx</a></p><br
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