Age UK’s statement in response to DHSC announcement on social care – an independent commission, investment & some reforms

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK said:

"Far reaching reform and refinancing of social care is long overdue, so today's announcement is unequivocally good news - it could potentially finally break the logjam that has stood in the way for many years. We say 'potentially' because while we've no doubt Baroness Casey will do an excellent job, the real question is whether the Government will act decisively on her conclusions. In this respect history is discouraging, but it's imperative that the current administration breaks the mould and puts the commission's recommendations fully into practice.

"The most sensitive issue of how to fund the social care needs of our rapidly ageing population is not set to be addressed until the second phase of the commission and this is a major concern, partly because today's older people do not have time on their side but also because who knows what the state of the world, our politics or our economy will be by then. The risk is that future events prevent the progress we desperately need to see and the more long drawn out the commission is, the greater the risk will be. Even if all goes well the reality is that it will be the early 2030s before older people and their families get substantial benefit from a transformed approach to social care - fully thirty years after Japan and Germany modernised their social care systems. That's a source of profound regret and it leaves today's older people and their families to make the best of a system that is widely agreed to be letting many down.

"Social care needs help now and it's crucial that this year's Spending Review directs significant additional investment into services, both to stabilise them and to provide a platform for some reform to begin straight away. For example, whatever the model of care for the promised National Care Service turns out to be, there'll certainly be a need for enough care professionals to staff it, so the Government should get on immediately with strengthening the care workforce."