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Adult Social Care is facing a £10bn coronavirus funding shortfall putting disabled, frail and older people, and care workers at risk.

10 years of cuts and austerity means that Adult Social Care is drastically underfunded.

Local Councils have lost 60p in every £1 of government funding since 2010, and spending on adult social care is at a lower level than it was 10 years ago, despite greater demand.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted this chronic underfunding of Adult Social Care.

In March, this government committed to “stand ready to do whatever is necessary to support councils in their response to the Coronavirus”, but now local councils face a Covid funding shortfall of between £10-13 bn.

Along with the NHS, Adult Social Care has borne the brunt of the current crisis. Care home deaths account for at least 40% of the UK Covid-19 fatalities. This consequence of government underfunding and its disregard for the care sector must not be ignored.

To deal with the immediate crisis, the sector needs guarantees from government on:

·       regular testing for staff and service users

·       secure supplies of PPE

·       hospitals not discharging patients with COVID-19 into care homes

Rebuilding our care sector requires funding, so we call on the government to fulfil their promise to give councils “whatever is necessary” to tackle this pandemic.

We demand the government show that they value our care sector as much as we do by committing to fully fund adult social care during and after COVID-19.

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