Spring budget: chancellor criticised for lack of focus on crisis in social care

Sector leaders warn of long term consequences
Big Ben

Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 16 February 2023

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's spring budget has been criticised for containing little to address the crisis in social work and social care.

Priority areas instead included increased support for businesses and parents, and schemes to get more people back to work.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts Britain will avoid recession this year and inflation will fall from 10.7 per cent to 2.9 per cent by the end of 2023. But household disposable income will fall by 5.7 per cent over two years, the largest drop since records began in 1956.

Living standards in 2027 will still be below pre-pandemic levels.

There were announcements on increased support for foster carers and care leavers, and changes to the welfare system for people with disabilities and the over 50s.

But there was practically nothing announced for health and social care, leaving sector leaders warning of the long-term consequences of failing to address ongoing issues such as recruitment and retention and investment in public services.

The long-awaited workforce plan failed to materialise, prompting widespread concern.

The chancellor announced a £22 billion package of spending and tax breaks, designed to achieve growth and address the fall in employment post-pandemic.


•    There was a major announcement on childcare: free provision is to extend to families with children aged nine months and over from 2025, to get more parents back to work
•    The £1 million cap on tax-free pension savings has been removed and the tax-free allowance increased to £60,000
•    The work capability assessment has been abolished. But there will be tighter sanctions for those seeking work

Responding to the budget, BASW UK chair Julia Ross said: “BASW has repeatedly made clear to the government that we need long-term funding to fix the deep-seated issues in social care. This includes investment in social work recruitment, education, professional development and retention. 

“The glaring lack of investment in the public sector accelerates the risk of avoidable, longer-term problems festering as prevention and early intervention services get cut, leading to soaring demand for later stage crisis services.

“All the while, social work continues to face an acute shortage of qualified social workers, which must be addressed in the long-awaited NHS Workforce Plan. Strikingly, there was barely any acknowledgment of social care in today’s statement, let alone the funding it needs, which is deeply disappointing."

The Institute for Government commented: “Despite speaking for over an hour the chancellor managed to avoid talking much about public services at all. Given the large number of public sector strikes this week, including on budget day itself, and the bad state of many public services… this was a notable omission. 

“He left departments’ spending totals mostly unchanged, though he did find extra money for defence and his new childcare commitments. That means most services will see only small budget increases over the next two years, with even tighter plans still pencilled in beyond the current spending review period, from April 2025 onwards – that is, after the next election.”