The cash boost, £1bn of which councils will receive to use in 2017-18, follows dramatic warnings from charities, health organisations and the care regulator that England’s social care system is reaching “a tipping point” after years of budget cuts. “Today, our social care system cares for over a million people and I pay tribute to the hundreds of thousands of carers who work in it. The £2bn was significant because Hammond had rejected widespread cross-party appeals for a cash injection for social care ahead of both his autumn statement last November and the local government finance settlement a few weeks later. Philip Hammond's budget is a long way from tackling future challenges | Larry Elliot Read moreBut health, social care and older people’s organisations gave the £2bn a lukewarm response. However, the £325m comes after Jeremy Hunt moved £1.2bn of the NHS’s capital budget into its revenue budget this year, in order to help struggling hospitals.

Source: The Guardian March 08, 2017 19:52 UTC