Social Care and Dementia

In March 2017, the Government said it would publish a green paper on social care to ensure that the system is sustainable in the long-term. Two years later, and after several delays, Ministers have still not given a date for when this will be published. Meanwhile, there are 400,000 fewer older people receiving publicly funded care compared to 2010.

Nine years of Government cuts and the most significant financial squeeze in its history have pushed our health service to the brink and I believe it is patients who are paying the price. Local authority budgets have been cut by 49.1% since 2010, resulting in £7 billion being lost from adult social care, and a further £1.3 billion will be cut in 2019-20.

I am pleased that the Opposition has set out its plan to bring forward a long-term and sustainable funding solution for social care, which includes investing £8 billion to provide more people with the support they need and to build a National Care Service that supports older and disabled people when they need it. As part of this commitment, £2.8 billion would be allocated to provide 160,000 extra packages of support every year, including 50,000 packages for people with dementia.

I remain concerned that people with dementia are unfairly punished when it comes to paying for their care. I therefore support implementing a lower cap on care costs than the £72,000 cap that was abandoned by the Government, and investment in developing the social care workforce to provide the compassionate care that vulnerable people deserve.

I will press the Government to publish its green paper without further delay and bring forward a sustainable and comprehensive settlement for our social care sector in the forthcoming Spending Review.