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| Can party politics be set aside to save social care? | |
| (7 months later) | |
| A consensus should reach beyond Westminster, powered by the experience of those who use services, their families and care professionals | |
| Mon 12 Jun 2017 13.22 BST | |
| Last modified on Sun 25 Jun 2017 19.45 BST | |
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| The voters have spoken. No party has a clear mandate to govern. Amid the tumult of a hung parliament and impending Brexit negotiations, could social care emerge as the issue where the parties collaborate for a greater good? | The voters have spoken. No party has a clear mandate to govern. Amid the tumult of a hung parliament and impending Brexit negotiations, could social care emerge as the issue where the parties collaborate for a greater good? |
| Social care was a dominant issue in the election like never before. A botched manifesto pledge may have been the trigger point but it touched a nerve. It surfaced growing unease about how we care for frail and vulnerable people and how we pay for it. | Social care was a dominant issue in the election like never before. A botched manifesto pledge may have been the trigger point but it touched a nerve. It surfaced growing unease about how we care for frail and vulnerable people and how we pay for it. |
| A quick read of Conservative and Labour manifestos suggests there is common ground on social care. Both acknowledge that the system is not working for the people it is meant to serve. Both recognise that funding is inadequate to meet the demographic challenges and the cost of “later-life illnesses”. Both want to mitigate the risk of people facing catastrophic care costs. Both want to join up health and care and pool budgets. Both are seeking long-term sustainable solutions. This common ground extends to the Liberal Democrats too. | A quick read of Conservative and Labour manifestos suggests there is common ground on social care. Both acknowledge that the system is not working for the people it is meant to serve. Both recognise that funding is inadequate to meet the demographic challenges and the cost of “later-life illnesses”. Both want to mitigate the risk of people facing catastrophic care costs. Both want to join up health and care and pool budgets. Both are seeking long-term sustainable solutions. This common ground extends to the Liberal Democrats too. |
| Of course there are differences as well. Most notably over the levels of funding committed to social care. The Conservatives pointed to what they have done already. Labour proposed an extra £1bn immediately and a further £8bn over the parliament. The Lib Dems proposed a penny on income tax raising £6bn. | Of course there are differences as well. Most notably over the levels of funding committed to social care. The Conservatives pointed to what they have done already. Labour proposed an extra £1bn immediately and a further £8bn over the parliament. The Lib Dems proposed a penny on income tax raising £6bn. |
| The Conservatives set out plans to reform the means test for domiciliary care by including the value of the home and dropping the Dilnot cap – only then to promise to consult about setting a cap! | The Conservatives set out plans to reform the means test for domiciliary care by including the value of the home and dropping the Dilnot cap – only then to promise to consult about setting a cap! |
| Labour wanted a national care service to run alongside the NHS and proposed a maximum limit on lifetime personal contributions to care costs – a cap by any other name. | Labour wanted a national care service to run alongside the NHS and proposed a maximum limit on lifetime personal contributions to care costs – a cap by any other name. |
| Labour said: “We will seek consensus on a cross-party basis about how it [social care] should be funded.” Having been badly burned by their miscalculation over means testing, the Conservatives should play ball. | Labour said: “We will seek consensus on a cross-party basis about how it [social care] should be funded.” Having been badly burned by their miscalculation over means testing, the Conservatives should play ball. |
| How might this consensus be built? | How might this consensus be built? |
| It needs to reach beyond Westminster. It needs to be powered by the lived experience of those who use services, their families and care professionals. | It needs to reach beyond Westminster. It needs to be powered by the lived experience of those who use services, their families and care professionals. |
| Last year Independent Age, along with 40 leading heath and care charities, backed a call by former care minister Norman Lamb and former health secretaries Alan Milburn and Stephen Dorrell for the government to establish a cross-party commission to review the future of health and social care in England. The idea fell on stony ground then, but it offers a practical way forward now. | Last year Independent Age, along with 40 leading heath and care charities, backed a call by former care minister Norman Lamb and former health secretaries Alan Milburn and Stephen Dorrell for the government to establish a cross-party commission to review the future of health and social care in England. The idea fell on stony ground then, but it offers a practical way forward now. |
| If a new settlement for social care is to be reached there needs to be urgent dialogue between the parties at Westminster and engagement with stakeholders to agree a realistic remit for a commission – dare I say a royal commission - to report by the end of 2017, and no later than next spring. | If a new settlement for social care is to be reached there needs to be urgent dialogue between the parties at Westminster and engagement with stakeholders to agree a realistic remit for a commission – dare I say a royal commission - to report by the end of 2017, and no later than next spring. |
| The time limited nature of the commission – and probably the parliament – should concentrate minds. | The time limited nature of the commission – and probably the parliament – should concentrate minds. |
| What should be in scope? | What should be in scope? |
| The Conservatives have rightly talked about means testing the winter fuel payment so wealthy pensioners no longer receive it. Labour suggested wealth taxes, an employer care contribution or a new social care levy. The Lib Dems proposed a dedicated health and care tax, possibly based on a reform of national insurance contributions. | The Conservatives have rightly talked about means testing the winter fuel payment so wealthy pensioners no longer receive it. Labour suggested wealth taxes, an employer care contribution or a new social care levy. The Lib Dems proposed a dedicated health and care tax, possibly based on a reform of national insurance contributions. |
| All three parties want to set a cap on care costs; the starting level and starting date for this need to be agreed, the commission could make recommendations. | All three parties want to set a cap on care costs; the starting level and starting date for this need to be agreed, the commission could make recommendations. |
| But while sorting out how state funded social care is paid for and the level of the cap are essential, they are not enough. There also needs to be serious attention paid to the workforce crisis and the support that family carers need. | But while sorting out how state funded social care is paid for and the level of the cap are essential, they are not enough. There also needs to be serious attention paid to the workforce crisis and the support that family carers need. |
| Before the election Theresa May set in motion work on a green paper to map out a sustainable future for social care. Civil servants were assembled and have been beavering away waiting for the end of purdah and further instructions from their political masters. That team could become the secretariat and support for a commission. | Before the election Theresa May set in motion work on a green paper to map out a sustainable future for social care. Civil servants were assembled and have been beavering away waiting for the end of purdah and further instructions from their political masters. That team could become the secretariat and support for a commission. |
| In the meantime the government should commission the Office for Budget Responsibility to undertake a comprehensive assessment of how much money social care needs to deliver safe and sustainable care, and how much is needed to meet the costs of projected increases in demand. This report should be ready in time for the budget this autumn. | In the meantime the government should commission the Office for Budget Responsibility to undertake a comprehensive assessment of how much money social care needs to deliver safe and sustainable care, and how much is needed to meet the costs of projected increases in demand. This report should be ready in time for the budget this autumn. |
| There is violent agreement across the parties that social care and health need to be more joined up. Every manifesto had a commitment to integration. But what was missing was a clear organising principle to guide the ambition. The Care Act offers what I believe could be the principle: the promotion of individual wellbeing, which the act enumerates. This could become the common purpose of both our NHS and social care. | There is violent agreement across the parties that social care and health need to be more joined up. Every manifesto had a commitment to integration. But what was missing was a clear organising principle to guide the ambition. The Care Act offers what I believe could be the principle: the promotion of individual wellbeing, which the act enumerates. This could become the common purpose of both our NHS and social care. |
| Time is of the essence. The parliament that assembles this week will be short-lived. But saving social care could be one of its legacies and proof that party interests can be set aside for the common good. | Time is of the essence. The parliament that assembles this week will be short-lived. But saving social care could be one of its legacies and proof that party interests can be set aside for the common good. |
| Join the Social Care Network to read more pieces like this. Follow us on Twitter (@GdnSocialCare) and like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest social care news and views. | Join the Social Care Network to read more pieces like this. Follow us on Twitter (@GdnSocialCare) and like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest social care news and views. |
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