Statement from Cllr Sir Steve Houghton CBE and Cllr Carl Les

As Co-Chairs of the Yorkshire Leaders Board on behalf of all Yorkshire and the Humber councils,
we have written to the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to ask him to take some
important steps to support the adult social care sector and ensure the government’s reforms are a
success.

We fully support the government’s ambition to reform and improve adult social care. However, the
adult social care system has been fragile for many years, and the additional challenges from the
COVID-19 pandemic, a highly competitive labour market and the cost of living crisis have further
exacerbated the instability of the system. This has compounded the historic underinvestment in
adult social care, something that the CQC identifies in their 2022 State of Care report.

We, therefore, believe that there are three clear actions that government should consider to mitigate
these risks and enable the reform agenda to be successful:

1. Delay the implementation of the funding reforms to enable authorities and markets to better
   prepare and mitigate the associated risks to their implementation (whilst recognising some
   implementation costs will need to be incurred and therefore funded in 22/23).
2. To ensure sufficient preparation and increased likelihood of successful implementation,
   delay the introduction of the new CQC Assurance regime and adopt a more phased
   approach.
3. Prioritise fully funding the fair cost of care so the reform can meet its aims to “ensure a fair
   rate for care is paid to care providers” while also moving beyond addressing solely the issue
   of cross subsidisation between council funded individuals and people funding their own care.

A report accompanies the letter on behalf of the 22 Yorkshire and Humber councils, which includes
evidence highlighting the risks to our region, and councils across the country if the current reforms
are implemented as planned.

Read the letter in full here:

Publications - Yorkshire & Humber Councils | Yorkshire Leaders Board (yhcouncils.org.uk).