Central Government should pay for adult social care rather than handing the responsibility to local authorities, says a leading Cornwall Councillor.

Responding to news of Government financial settlements for Cornwall on Friday, Adam Paynter, the Council’s cabinet member for resources, said: ’We have only just received confirmation of the overall level of funding which has been allocated to the Council and need to carry out a detailed analysis of the figures to assess what they mean for the authority. 

’We welcome today’s announcement that the Council has been selected as the first rural pilot of the Government’s 100% Business Rate Retention scheme.

’We are waiting for further details of the scheme to be confirmed and look forward to helping to influence the development of future funding reforms that support business growth in rural areas.

 ’We note and will need to consider the Government’s offer to allow councils to raise an additional 1% on the Social Care Precept in both 2017/2018 and 2018/2019  (ie up to 3% per year for the next two years). 

’This 1% increase would provide an additional £2.5m in 2017/18 and £5.3m in 2018/2019 to be spent on adult social care in Cornwall.  

’However, while we welcome the fact that the Government has recognised the need for more funding for adult social care, we still feel that this should be provided centrally, rather than expecting council tax payers to pick up the bill locally.’