Conservative MPs in Nottinghamshire have called upon the Government to fix social care amid "ridiculous" staffing shortages which have pushed hundreds of people onto ever-growing waiting lists.
Mansfield MP and Conservative leader of the county council, Ben Bradley, hosted an Adjournment debate in Westminster on February 21 to discuss the need to improve care services in region.
The debate comes as the Government sets out its plans for social care in its white paper.
Councillor Bradley said the white paper was "long-overdue" and praised the "incredibly hard-working and dedicated staff in Nottinghamshire’s social care services".
Many will see an increase in their council tax bills in April this year, with an significant and specific portion dedicated to social care through the 'adult social care precept'.
Most councils have much of their budgets taken up by social care, including Nottingham where 40% of the Labour-run authority's cash goes towards this sector, and the costs are only ever increasing as demand grows.
Councillor Bradley argued "continued rises in council tax without major reform are also unsustainable, especially when we consider that some London boroughs pay half the council tax that many people do elsewhere, including in my own constituency."
He described the system as "not fair".
He said: "It is important therefore to ensure that the funds described as being for social care, from the national insurance increase, do make their way to care provision, to local authorities and providers, to improve support and capacity.”
Such pressures are leading to significant backlogs across the entire care system in Nottinghamshire.
He said the waiting list in the county has risen from zero to one of 400 over the course of the pandemic.
And all of these issues come on top of care staff shortages, including home care staff, prompting serious concern.
He added: "The minister will not be surprised to hear that workforce capacity is far and away the biggest challenge that we face in Nottinghamshire.
"We have seen a further 5% decline in staffing levels in a sector that was already understaffed. I am grateful that a crisis was averted by the revocation of the mandatory vaccination plans, because they would have seen thousands more leave the sector in Notts.
"We estimate that the turnover of staff in home care is around 26%, which is a massive and ridiculous proportion."
Gedling's Conservative MP, Tom Randall, also spoke during the debate to emphasise the need to help those who are leaving care.
He made particular reference to young care leavers and Terry Galloway, who runs a housing association and kickstarter scheme in Nottinghamshire.
Mr Galloway, a care leaver himself, recently visited Downing Street to hand in a petition calling on the Government to protect young people leaving care who "fall through the gaps".
The petition asked that the Government keeps caring for them up to the age of 18.
He has started another petition calling for 'care leaver' to be made a protected characteristic, so people are not discriminated against for being in care when they were younger.
Councillor Bradley added: "Terry Galloway is fantastic. He is a real advocate for some of our children’s services—our care leavers’ services in particular—in Nottinghamshire.
"I am pleased that my hon. Friend has raised his case here today. This is a prime example of where children’s services and adult care services need to talk to each other, and where we need to have those clear pathways into additional support."
Responding to the debate the minister for care and mental health, Gillian Keegan, said: "As they said, the adult social care sector faces challenges in recruiting and retaining care staff.
"We recognise that, and we have put in place a range of measures, as I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield would recognise, to support local authorities and care providers in addressing those workforce pressures, including making available a total of £462.5 million in workforce recruitment and retention funds, and the latest phase of our national recruitment campaign, promoting the rewarding and stimulating roles in the adult social care sector.
The minister also added in the White Paper "we committed to at least £500 million to develop and support the workforce over the next three years" as well as "committing £1.4 billion over the next three years to support local authorities in moving towards paying providers a fair cost of care".
