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Social care funding report debated in House of Lords

On Thursday 28 January 2021 from 2:30pm, the House of Lords debates the Economic Affairs Committee's 2019 report, Social care funding: time to end a national scandal.

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Speakers

The debate is being moved by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, Chair of the Economic Affairs Committee.

A full list of Members of the House of Lords who are due to speak in the debate can be viewed in the Speakers' Lists

Key recommendations

The Social care funding report recommends the Government should:

  • Increase funding to restore levels of care quality and access to 2009/10 standards, as a matter of priority.
  • Restore access to local authority funding for individuals who cannot access this funding and provide unpaid care as a result.
  • Increase the wages of care workers in publicly funded care providers to allow those providers to compete with other local employers.
  • Create a career structure which better reflects the professional skills required to be a good care worker and the social importance of the sector.
  • The costs of long-term care should be shared between individuals and the taxpayer.
  • The Government should introduce a basic entitlement to publicly funded personal care for individuals with substantial and critical levels of need. Accommodation costs and the costs of other help and support should still be incurred by the individual.
  • The additional funding needed for adult social care should be provided as a government grant, distributed directly to local authorities according to an appropriate national funding formula which takes into account differences between local authorities in demand for care and ability to raise funds from local taxation.
  • Any long-term funding solution for adult social care should:
    • Put more money into the system through a combination of public and personal funding;
    • Be simple and easy to understand for those accessing public funding;
    • Ensure local authorities can afford to provide care to all those whose needs meet the legal eligibility criteria, which must be interpreted fairly and consistently across local authorities;
    • Quantify and address serious unmet need;
    • Ensure the level of unpaid carers in the system does not suffer a steep decline and is sustainable;
    • Better protect individuals from catastrophic costs;
    • Reduce the disparity between entitlement to help in the National Health Service and the adult social care system, ensuring that entitlement is based on the level of need, not the diagnosis;
    • Allow local authorities to pay care providers a rate that covers the costs of providing care, without the need for cross-subsidy from self-funders;
    • Distribute adult social care funding more fairly across local authorities;
    • Invest in the social care workforce and ensure a more joined up approach to workforce planning with the National Health Service.

The Economic Affairs Committee has not received a Government response to this report.

Further information

 

Channel website: http://www.parliament.uk/

Original article link: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/175/economic-affairs-committee/news/138724/social-care-funding-report-debated-in-house-of-lords/

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