LGA: Pressure on care home places as recession triggers closures

Supply pressures in one in seven councils due to closures, survey finds

Mithran Samuel
Communitycare.co.uk

One in seven English councils have experienced pressure on care home places due to home closures while three-quarters are anticipating supply pressures, the Local Government Association warned today.

The LGA said the figures, drawn from its annual survey of adult social care departments conducted with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, showed the recession was starting to bite in the sector.

The association said councils were taking steps to support care home providers through the economic downturn:-

• Poole Council had introduced fortnightly payments to providers, one week in arrears and one week in advance.
• Southampton Council was building a new care home as part of a public private partnership.
• Somerset Council was working with the local association of providers to identify homes in difficulty at an early stage and using block contracts to keep income as consistent as possible.

But David Rogers, chair of the LGA's community wellbeing board, warned: "Councils are happy to stretch themselves in these exceptional circumstances to help care home providers stay in business, but their pockets are not bottomless."

April 2010