Gideon demands action on social care crisis

Taunton and Wellington’s MP, Gideon Amos, warns that the spiralling cost of social care is leaving Somerset Council “struggling to fund local services”.

Total spending on social care by local authorities reached a record £29.3bn in 2024-25, up by £12.4bn since 2015-16.

This means social care now accounts for up to 80% of council budgets, which have already had to make vast cuts to other council services.

Gideon warns that any further cuts to social care funding could be “the point of no return” for the sector.

He wants the Government to intervene, with new investment to relieve councils, tackle carer vacancies, and offer free personal care to those currently suffering without support.

His Liberal Democrat party has argued that new investment in social care, by helping more people leave hospital, could end the A&E crisis and corridor care within a year, and save money on expensive hospital stays.

Gideon also called on the Government to finish its commission on social care, which is currently scheduled to be completed in three years, with reforms reportedly potentially not in place until 2036.

He added: “My Somerset Lib Dem councillor colleagues were handed the crisis in social care funding which the outgoing Conservative leader of the council said was a ticking time bomb.

“They have turned things around by making tough decisions and we work together to push the government for more funding for Somerset.

“But the extra money provided amounted to little more than a 1% increase from the government which means other services are still being hit really hard by the government’s failure to meet the cost of care.

“Ours is a costed plan to give free personal care to those who need it. Expecting council taxpayers to bail out a broken social care system is not going to work. We need government action now to fix the social care crisis now.”

Cllr Bill Revans, Leader of Somerset Council, said: “Somerset Liberal Democrats were elected on a promise to put the heart back into Somerset.

“We are proud to have prioritised looking after the most vulnerable. But with increasing costs and demands on our services, the time has come to question whether social care should be funded out of Council Tax.

“The Carey report must be accelerated to bring councils across the country back from the brink.

“We have faced heartbreaking decisions to bring our finances back into balance and are transforming the council to be sustainable.

“However, we cannot control costs and demand as we would wish which inevitably impacts on universal services.”