Care leaders have welcomed new funding for the sector announced in yesterday’s Autumn Statement but expressed concerns at reform being put on the “back burner”.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced £2.7 billion in social care funding over the next two years to help support hospital discharge and increased the national living wage to £10.42 from April next year but also confirmed that social care reforms would be delayed by two years.

Nadra Ahmed OBE, chair of the National Care Association and The Care Provider Alliance, said the extra funding was “very welcome” but added the increased national living wage would be a “huge concern” as additional costs increase and the funding gap deepens.

Professor Vic Rayner OBE, chief executive of the National Care Forum, said social care reforms had been put on the “back burner” and urged the government to honour its commitment to develop care that was fit for the future.

Rayner called on the government to set out how it intends to fund councils to meet the additional cost of the national living wage.

Professor Martin Green OBE, chief executive of Care England, said: “We are pleased that the chancellor has acknowledged there needs to be more money in social care, but we are starting from such a low base of funding that, even with extra money, it is going to be a major struggle for some services to continue.”

Andrew Pike, head of policy, campaigns and public affairs at Dementia UK, said confirmation of the government’s reform delay was “disappointing” and called for the proposed NHS workforce plan to reflect the need for extra support for people living with dementia.

Pike called for a “fully funded dementia strategy and integrated model of health and social care across both health and social care so that people living with dementia and their families are no longer left feeling abandoned by the systems that should be supporting them”.