A 6.5% rise in council funding for 2024/25 will mean the closure of many care services, Care England has warned.

The stark warning came in response to the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement of 6.5% for 2024/25.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “The writing is on the wall for local government. Without a paradigm shift in the government strategy for social care, many care services will close. With inflation at 6.7% in September of this year and with a National Living Wage increase of 9.8% in April next year, a 6.5% uplift is a long way from what the sector requires to even stand still. “

The Local Government Association warned earlier this month that almost one in five councils are facing bankruptcy this year or in 2024.

Green added: “Put simply, current government investment in the sector is not enough. The Local Government Association analysis shows funding gaps of £2.4 billion in 2023/24 and £1.6 billion in 2024/25 who also report one in five councils now fear issuing a Section 114 in the next year.

“This is a 100% increase in the last 12 months. Care providers are operating on unsustainable margins having already absorbed inflationary pressures over multiple years due to insufficient government funding but we cannot continue to be called upon to fill the funding gap left by government.”