Adult social care debt in Cambridgeshire rises to £19.3m - with £13m owed to county council by NHS

The NHS owes £13million to Cambridgeshire County Council for adult social care - while millions more is unpaid by individuals.

The council has a statutory duty to provide social care, and many receiving support at home or in the community have to pay some or all of their costs since, unlike NHS services, it is not free at the point of use.

But the council said overdue adult social care debt has been increasing steadily over the last three years, rising 16 per cent from £16.6m at the end of March 2023 to £19.3m at the end of March 2024.

It is not just individuals who owe the council money for social care: the NHS also has outstanding debt.

Over the last year the NHS overdue debt relating to adult social care increased from £1.4million at the end of March 2023, to £13million at the end of March 2024.

At a meeting of the council’s adults and health committee last Thursday (June 27), Cllr Chris Boden (Con, Whittlesey North) said he was “shocked” at the increase in just one year.

Cllr Boden said: “It is not acceptable for cash flow to be affected in this way between organisations which are meant to be partners.

“We have got to do better than this in terms of working with partners to ensure the correct flow of money as appropriate.

“Clearly that is not happening, I’m not sure how we achieve this. I would have hoped that goodwill between partners should solve this problem.

“If goodwill is not solving it I’m not sure where we go from there, but it is a highly unsatisfactory position to be in.”

Officers said they were in discussions with the Integrated Care Board about getting the overdue debt paid, and said an agreement had been reached for one issue, but said another area was still under discussion.

Cllr Susan van de Ven (Lib Dem, Melbourn and Bassingbourn) said the overdue debt from individuals “reflects the very terrible condition of life” many people were facing.

Officers acknowledged that there were a number of reasons why individuals had overdue debt and said there were processes to help those struggling to pay

Some £792,000 of social care debt has been written off in the last financial year.

Cllr Richard Howitt (Lab, Petersfield) recognised the council also needed to do better when dealing with unpaid care fees for someone who has died.

He said an Ombudsman ruled against the council over its handling of a situation chasing the debt of a deceased person.

Cllr Howitt said it was important the council considered how it spoke to the family members of someone who has died.

Officers confirmed the authority was working on the matter.