SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE/MADRID, Oct. 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canary Islands was the second autonomous community that invested the least in dependency last year with a total of 801 euros per person and year, only ahead of Galicia (615), according to new data published this Wednesday by the Association of Directors and Managers of Social services.
Furthermore, the archipelago was the twelfth community in spending per beneficiary person, with 7,770 euros, at a rate of 90.79 euros per person.
In total, 233.9 million were invested in the islands last year, of which 23.5% was contributed by the State (55.1 million) and 76.4% by the autonomous community, specifically 178.7 million, which allowed serve an average of 30,383 people.
The autonomous communities contributed 7,573 million euros for dependency care in 2022, a total of 98 million less than the previous year.
Specifically, the report reveals that in 2022 public investment in dependency care reached 10,234 million euros.
Of them, the CCAA financed 74%, with 7,573 million euros (1.27% less spending than in 2021), compared to the 26% represented by the state contribution, with 2,661 million euros – if the Basque quota and the Navarra contribution–, which represents an increase of 33.6% compared to the previous year, when it contributed 1,992 million euros –including the contribution to Navarra, the Basque quota, the minimum level and the agreed level- -.
The Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services specifies that, if the contribution from Navarra and the Basque quota were taken into account, the contribution for dependency of the CCAA “would be further reduced, reaching 134 million euros less than last year.”
NINE CCAA CUT FUNDS
By CCAA, in 2022, nine regional governments reduced spending on care for people in a situation of dependency, compared to 2021: Catalonia (57.3 million euros less), Cantabria (8.7 million euros less), Asturias ( 10.8 million euros less), Valencian Community (40.6 million euros less), Andalusia (51.6 million euros less), Extremadura (11 million euros less), Madrid (15 million less), Castilla y León (7.4 million less) and Murcia (1 million less).
The authors of the report describe as “especially bloody” the cuts that have occurred in Murcia and Catalonia, communities that last year occupied the bottom positions on the Dependency Observatory’s Rating Scale.
On the other hand, the communities that made the greatest increase stand out positively: the Balearic Islands (with an increase of 17%), and Navarra (with an increase of 8.8%).
The data also shows that the communities that invest the most in dependency per potentially dependent person and year are the Basque Country (2,329 euros), Extremadura (1,706 euros) and Navarra (1,701 euros), while the Canary Islands are at the bottom (801 euros). ) and Galicia (615 euros).
Likewise, the study highlights that the average annual expenditure per beneficiary person was 8,135 euros in 2022, of which the General State Administration contributed 2,115 euros as the minimum level of protection and the Autonomous Communities, 6,020 euros.
The community that allocated the largest financial amount per beneficiary was the Basque Country with 13,390 euros annually. This amount doubles the expenditure of the community that invested the least, which was Andalusia with 6,547 euros annually.
According to the authors of the report, the relative weight of regional financing compared to state financing during the period 2015 to 2020 presented an upward trend that was broken in 2021, “when the increase in financing provided by the AGE through the shock plan is used by some CCAA to withdraw part of their financing”.
Thus, they specify that the weight of the CCAA in financing fell by more than 10% between 2021 and 2022, while the AGE reinforced the financing of the system. In addition, they warn that “the cuts in the contribution in 2021 and 2022 of half of the autonomous communities have limited the impact capacity of the funds from the shock plan.”
BIG DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TERRITORIES
In any case, the data shows that the distribution of financing between the AGE and the Autonomous Communities presents “large differences” between the territories. For example, the Basque Country (86.00%), the Balearic Islands (83.09%) and the Foral Community of Navarra (81.56%) finance their systems in a greater proportion, while the average regional financing drops to 74. % for the whole of Spain and Autonomous Communities such as Galicia (64.80%), Andalusia (66.87%) or Castilla y León (67.25%), remain below this.
Regarding the interannual variation in the average expenditure per beneficiary person in 2022 compared to 2021, it shows that the Balearic Islands have had the greatest increase in expenditure per beneficiary person (11.33% more), increasing the expenditure of the AGE (+22 .1%) and increasing the regional rate (+17%), followed by Navarra and Cantabria.
However, the Association warns that those autonomous communities that have increased the number of beneficiaries the most are the same ones that have reduced the average expenditure per beneficiary, so “the increase in the number of people has not been accompanied by a proportional increase in financing”.
According to the report, since 2015, the number of dependent people cared for has increased every year. Between 2021 and 2022, a higher percentage increase in total certified spending is observed (7.1%) than the increase in the number of beneficiaries (7.9%).
