Care England has urged the government to take immediate “pragmatic” action to stem the social care crisis in the Spring Budget.

The representative body called for the government to zero-rate VAT for welfare services, better standardise commissioning practice to reduce complexities and inefficiencies in the system, introduce an annual fee uplift deadline of 31 March to bolster financial planning and streamline funding at a local authority level for social care providers.

In the longer term, Care England said the government should close the Fair Cost of Care gap and repeat the exercise at a sector-wide level, better ringfence funds for adult social care, introduce a government-funded £15 minimum wage for care staff and move towards a long-term vision for social care funding settlements.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “Our Sector Pulse Check report with Hft put the writing on the wall. It’s time for the government to take note. With government funding last year not making a difference to the sustainability of 84% of care providers in England, we can’t continue with more of the same. The government has given the sector more money than ever before, but the sector has not been able to benefit as it should have. We need to impose a new reality. The sustainability of the sector is compromised. This may well be the last chance for this government to demonstrate their commitment to fixing social care.

“Intervention from the government must be immediate and substantial. Almost half of care providers have had to close a part of their organisation or hand back contracts to their local authority as a result of the cost pressures they find themselves operating against. Adult social care is an economic powerhouse. Research has found that for every £1 invested in social care, £1.75 is generated in the wider economy. Our sector is crucial to the financial and physical health of the nation, and unless the government acts now, we won’t have a social care fit for the future.”

The Spring Budget takes place on 6 March.