Adult Social Care Statement House of Commons


Adult Social Care Statement

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will be very happy to discuss what

kind of feedback we can get from the

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department as soon as possible.

Statement, the parliamentary

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undersecretary of state for care and

mental health. Minister Jackie Doyle

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Price.

Thank you. This oral

statement is the government's

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responds to the recent opposition

they debate on social care on

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Wednesday the 25th of October. Since

the debate, the government announced

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further plans for the Green paper on

care and support for older people on

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the 16th of November. This oral

statement reiterates the substance

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of that announcement while providing

further detail to the House and some

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specific areas. An ageing Society

means we need to reach a longer-term

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sustainability settlement for social

care, which is why the government is

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committed to publishing a green

paper by 2018 setting out its

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proposals for reform. And

interministerial group is overseeing

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the work. This builds on the

additional £2 billion over the next

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three years we have already provided

to meet social care needs. In

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developing the Green paper it is

right we take the time needed to

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debate the many complex issues and

listen to the perspective of experts

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and key users building consensus

around reforms that can succeed.

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This is why we are starting a

process of initial engagement over

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the coming months through which the

government will work with experts,

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stakeholders and users, to shape

long-term reforms proposed in the

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Green paper. The government has

asked independent experts to provide

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their views, including the two most

recent reviews on social care. We're

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also engaging closely with key

stakeholders and people who use

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services and their carers.

Government will be hosting a number

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of round tables to hear a range of

perspectives representing different

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constituencies including service

recipients, providers, health

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services, financial services

providers, local government and

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working age adults. Once the Green

paper is published, it will be

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subject to full public consultation.

The government has also recognise

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there is broad agreement across

Parliament that reform social care

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is a priority, and is looking

forward to hearing many dues. We

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have written to cheers of relevant

all party parliamentary groups to

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discuss their priorities and

perspectives on reform. The Prime

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Minister has been clear that the

consultation will include proposals

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to place a limit on the care costs

individuals face. To allow for full

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of engagement and development of the

approach, we will not be taking

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forward the previous government's

plans to implement a cap on care

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costs in 2020.

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Further details on the Government's

plans will be set that after we have

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consulted on the options.

The Green

paper will focus primarily on the

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care for older people but will

consider elements of the adult care

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system regarding all recipients of

social care. We are committed to

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ensure that people with disabilities

and complex conditions are able to

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live healthy, independent lives and

able to participate fully in

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society. Many of the questions and

issues about the sustainability of

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the care system will be relevant to

adults of all ages. To ensure these

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issues are considered in their own

right, the Government has committed

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to bringing forward a parallel

programme of work that is being led

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jointly by the Department of health

and Department of communities and

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local of at. This work will also be

overseen by the interministerial

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group to ensure close alignment with

the Green paper. Of course, carers

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are a vital set of partners in the

health and social care system and it

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would not make any sense to pursue

strategic issues related to carers

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in isolation from the wider work on

the future of social care and they

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will therefore be a key part of the

Green paper. A sustainable

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settlement for social care will not

be possible without focusing on how

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our Society supports carers. The

called Riverdance carers in 2016 are

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central to any proposals for the

wider social care system -- the call

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for guidance on. We must continue to

improve the work and expense of

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carers today and the Government

remains fully committed to do so in

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a way they would wish and in a way

that supports their own health and

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well-being, their employment and

their life chances. So ahead of the

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Green paper's publication, the

Department of Health will also be

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publishing an action plan for carers

in the New Year, setting priorities

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for a cross Government programme of

work to support carers over the next

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two years. In the short and

medium-term, we are taking important

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to ensure we stable adult care

sector. We are supporting adequate

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great across the system and

supporting the network and services

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that keep people living

independently belong. It is

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important to recognise that quality

across the adult social care sector

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remains good overall. The October

2017 state of care report from the

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CQC found that 80% of adult social

care settings had been rated as good

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and outstanding. However, the CQC

also underlined there are

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substantial variations in the

quality of care depending on where

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people live. Department of health is

also working with the adult social

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care sector to implement quality

matters, a shared commitment to take

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action to achieve high-quality

patient centred adult social care.

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Through our programme sector led

improvement, we are supporting

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councils to make savings and

improved services by promoting good

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practice, including new approaches.

Looking beyond social care

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provision, it is vital to help the

broader supporting services that

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help people live longer. This means

that well adapted and specialised

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housing is becoming increasingly

important and the disability grant

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is to help meet the cost of adapting

a property for a person with a

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disability or support need. The

budget this year provided an

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additional £42 million for the rest

of the financial year, taking

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funding for this year to 440 back at

a rate £473 million. This ain't a

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better system everyone can have

confidence in where all people

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understand their responsibilities,

where all can prepare for their

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future and the care they receive

will be to a high standard and help

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them maintain their independence and

well-being. This Government wants to

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take the time to consult and build

consensus on a long-term sustainable

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settlement for the future which

includes looking at the quality of

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care being delivered, the funding of

the system and how it will be paid

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for in the round.

I thank the

Minister for giving me an advance

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sight of her statement. But her

statement is a woefully inadequate

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response to the Opposition Day

debate we held in this place on

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Wednesday the 25th of October. It in

no way addresses the motion passed

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by this House. That motion called on

the Government to note the

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Conservative Party's manifesto

commitment to a funding proposal for

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social care which would have no cap

on care costs and would include the

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value of homes in the means test for

care at home and we called on the

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Government not to proceed with their

commitment to those proposals. The

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Minister has today finally confirmed

what many on these benches

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suspected, that they will not be

proceeding with their plans to cap

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care costs by 2020 as legislated by

this House. This is a shameful waste

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of taxpayers' money, over £1 million

in today's money was spent

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commissioning the deal not review

and it is a waste of Parliamentary

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time enacting that cap and it is no

good the Minister saying the

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Government are consulting on this

cap. They consulted on this during

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the general election and their

proposals were rejected by the

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electorate. Meanwhile, many people,

very many people, are still faced

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with the catastrophic costs of

paying for their care. Our

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Opposition Day debate motion also

called on the Government to remove

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the threat to withdraw social care

funding and stop fines on local

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authorities for delayed transfers of

care. During the debate, I talked

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about how ministers had previously

threatened councils with fines and

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further funding cuts to social care,

if targets for cutting delayed

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transfers of care could not be met.

Fines for targets for half -- that

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half of social care directors

believe are unrealistic so can the

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Government confirmed they have

listened to the will of the house to

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stop these fines, which merely

threaten to make the crisis in

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social care worse? And the

Opposition Day debate motion also

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called on the Government to commit

to the extra funding needed to close

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the social care funding gap for 2017

and for the remaining years of this

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Parliament. At no point today has

the Minister confirmed how the

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Government intends to enact the will

of this House in meeting the funding

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gap and, of course, shamefully,

there was no mention of social care

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in the recent budget. Our social

care system remains in a perilous

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state because of the cuts that this

Government has chosen to make. The

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Care Quality Commission has told us

the social care system still remains

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at a tipping point. So can the

Minister now confirm the Government

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will enact the will of this House

and meet the funding gap. The

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Minister in her statement addressed

the Government's decision to include

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the views of carers in the upcoming

Green paper and their failure to

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respond to the consultation of 6,500

other carers, which has already

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taken place. I have mentioned in the

debate and I will say again, Katie

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Stiles, a carer and campaigner for

the Motor Neurone Disease

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Association, contributed to that and

hope her voice would be heard. She

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told me not publishing the National

care strategy has made me extremely

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angry. It sends a message that

carers' lives are unimportant, a

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message that the Government thinks

we can carry on as we are and it

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sends a message that my own time is

of little worth. Can the Minister

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give more details on the scope of

the carers' action plan and can she

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reassure 6,500 carers that their

time was not wasted. Mr Dev

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disfigure, the Government announced

recently and the Minister confirm

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today that working age people with

disabilities would be consulted as

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part of a parallel works stream to

the Government's Green paper

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consultation. Why a parallel works

stream? This is an extremely

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short-sighted approach to reforming

social care, far from looking at the

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system in the round. Can she gives

more details about the parallel

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works stream for people with

disabilities who have social care

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needs? It is clear only a Labour

Government can deliver much-needed

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reform to social care. Over the

coming months, we will also consult

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experts on how we can move from the

current broken system of care to a

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sustainable service for the

long-term. We will look out funding

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options for the social care in the

long term, such as a new social care

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Levy, an employer care contribution

and wealth taxes. These experts will

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help clarify our options for funding

our planned National care service

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and our approach will be underpinned

by the principal of pooled risk, so

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no one faces catastrophic care costs

as they do now or as they would have

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done under the Conservative Party's

early dementia tax proposals.

Thank

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you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Well, the

honourable lady will not be

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surprised that I didn't agree with

much of what she said, but some of

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the things, I will address them.

Fundamentally, you know, we are

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setting out and it has been long

established, we are setting out how

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to get a longer term sustainable

system of funding our social care.

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What has been absolutely clear in

the debates over the last year is as

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far as the public is concerned,

there is a real lack of

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understanding that at present, care

has to be met for by the person

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requiring their care. That is what

leads to catastrophic care costs and

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that is the dementia tax that she

gives referring to and by having a

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cap on overall costs, that is

exactly what we are going to tackle.

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But it is very important that in

doing so, we take the public with us

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and have a full debate and it

doesn't matter how far we think we

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have had that debate in this place

by legislating in the past, it is

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quite clear the public don't

understand it, so we are only going

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to get public consent for a

long-term solution if we have a

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public debate which is handled with

maturity and so far, we haven't seen

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very much of that. Now, one of the

issues she also raised was the issue

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of carers and their suggestions that

carers' voices aren't being heard in

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this debate but I would say very

much, they are. Well, she can sit

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there and chanter or listen to the

answer to the question, it is

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entirely up to her but it is rather

a waste of time for me coming to

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this place if I'm just going to be

talked over.

I think I can control

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the chamber, but thanks for your

help. I've already told him once,

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you don't need to worry. Order. The

whip is well aware he is testing my

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patients, so I don't need any help

from the Minister.

Carers are very

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much being heard but there is in no

way that we can actually tackle the

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broad picture of how we fund and how

we manage need in terms of social

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care space without properly

comparing the -- considering the

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needs of carers. I'm very grateful

to the 6,500 people who participated

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to the call for evidence. We have

listened to them and we will

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consider what they have said but in

the meantime, it is very important

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that we pull together what we have

at present and we will be publishing

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that action plan in January of next

year. The issue of working age

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adults, to some extent, the

honourable lady is right, there are

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some common issues with regards that

affect care for the elderly and

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working adults, so those issues that

are in common will be considered as

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part of the Green paper process.

There is also at the same time, we

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are going through a massive change

in how we are dealing with people

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with disabilities. We have very

brave ambition to get more and more

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people into work. Through a journey

of getting people with learning

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disabilities out of long-term

residential care and into a worker

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community and that brings a separate

set of challenges, so that is the

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work that will be going on in

parallel. The work in the Green

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paper will look at the Commons

systems as well as the specific

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areas and care for the elderly. That

is not something we can look at as a

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silo, we have got to look at it...

Well, she says it should all be

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together but they are very distinct

challenges, care for the elderly and

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careful working age adults and I

don't think we should diminish

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either constituency by grouping them

altogether. As regards the funding

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gap, as she is well aware, we have

made £925 billion available to local

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authorities to meet their needs over

these three years, but the reality

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is, the way we tackle social care in

this country, so everyone gets the

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care they need, as they... As they

will get the care they need as they

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come to the later part of their

life, we need to build a longer term

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sustainable funding. That is why we

are taking for this debate is part

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of the Green paper and I hope that

everyone with an interest in the

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subject gets involved in that debate

because we are only going to fix

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this long-term if we can take the

public with us.

The House of Lords

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select committee on the long-term

sustainability of the NHS rapidly

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concluded that it would be

impossible to carry out their task

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without investigating the

interrelated nature of social care,

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and they changed their remit

accordingly. The committee changed

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the scope because they recognised

that we would not see a long-term

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sustainable solution unless we

address both and I'm afraid the

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Green paper that focuses entirely on

social care is going to fail to rise

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to the challenge and I would like to

ask the Minister, has she read the

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committee's findings? And will she

be prepared as she listens to those,

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at an early stage she is consulting

with, if the advice from then is

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clearly, as has been the advice from

all commissions that have looked at

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this, that they need to consider

both health and social care

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together, will she go back to the

drawing board and start again and

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look at both health and social care?

Just to reassure my honourable

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friend, in terms of the frames of

reference for the Green paper, part

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and parcel of getting a long-term

sustainable solution to this is very

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much involved in looking at care and

I did point out in the statement

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that we need to look at holistic

areas of policy in which to deliver

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this, housing being a particular one

because if we get housing conditions

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right, we can enable people to live

for longer. But the whole purpose of

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having a Green paper and debate is

to make sure we do consider this

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issue not as a whole but

holistically.

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Can I extend my thanks to the

Under-Secretary of State for

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advanced site of the statement. I

hope this is not going to be

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something that happens regularly

where we have opposition debates

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then months down line the government

sneaks in a statement on a Thursday

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morning, I hope this is a one-off.

Can we start looking seriously at

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some of the challenges faced of an

ageing population. The government

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has its head in the sand as to who

will look after these people when we

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restrict freedom of movement. Via

social care has been far from

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stability talked about in the

election campaign. I welcome what

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has been said regarding the cap, but

I want to press the Minister on a

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point which has cross-party

consensus in Scotland, and

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particularly the support of the

Conservative Party. In Scotland,

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three social care is being extended

to under 65. 9000 people will be

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helped, but the UK Government has no

intention of bringing in this

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policy.

Does she want to meet with

us to have a look at this? The

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purpose of a green paper is that we

properly debate and challenge the

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options available. I am interested

in this. He refers to the fact

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personal care is met by the

government, but the actual lion's

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share cost is the residential

component which is not met, but we

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need to win from everybody with

experience, not only within these

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nations but across the world.

I

appreciate the importance the

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government has put on social care,

but the Minister knows I have a

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strong interest in children social

care, so at a time when the number

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of children coming into care

continues to rise, when thresholds

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for intervention are rising, and

work is going south and the number

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of adoptions has also been

diminishing, can she and the

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government give me assurances that

the attach the same level of

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importance to challenges being faced

by children up and down the country?

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I can absolutely give him that

assurance, but I may suggest that

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the Department for Education respond

to lose points.

Can I say how nice

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it is to see my honourable friend

back in her rightful place. Can I

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also endorse what the chair of the

select committee said, and I asked

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the Minister, that she regret the

Chancellor failed to mention social

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care at all in the budget?

We are in

danger of getting into a false

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debates because when I talk about

social care I do not talk about it

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to the exclusion of health. I

automatically include it. When

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people talk about the failure of the

Chancellor to mention social care,

0:20:550:21:00

the reality is that more money was

made available to the NHS, which

0:21:000:21:04

will benefit the social care system.

In the absence of provision I might

0:21:040:21:13

make and do not might have

encouraged me to make, is it

0:21:130:21:17

reasonable to expect my social care

costs to be paid for by the state,

0:21:170:21:21

but my ears to inherit my

substantial housing assets?

I think

0:21:210:21:30

he summarises meekly one of the

debates we have to have in this

0:21:300:21:34

space, which is, how about we ensure

people can achieve care of when they

0:21:340:21:38

need it and it will be paid for

while at the same time achieving

0:21:380:21:45

intergenerational fairness. I hope

he cooperates fully ...

The leader

0:21:450:22:02

of Rochdale council says he needs

£20 million to meet the demands of

0:22:020:22:06

the adult care service. Can the

Minister give some advice on where

0:22:060:22:11

that £20 million might be found?

We

have made an additional 9.2 -- 9.2

0:22:110:22:22

million pounds and longer term we

are seeing that local authorities

0:22:220:22:28

are being imaginative about how they

tackle the need, and we have

0:22:280:22:34

increased the money available

through the disability grant, which

0:22:340:22:41

is taking a lot of money out of the

system, not least because it is

0:22:410:22:45

allowing people to live at home

without the need for support, so I

0:22:450:22:51

would encourage him not just to look

at money, but what else to do to

0:22:510:22:55

make things better.

First of all I

welcome the report and a focus on

0:22:550:23:02

carers and the elderly because that

is really important, but care

0:23:020:23:09

institutions already offer good and

outstanding service, and on the note

0:23:090:23:13

she just made, it is not just about

funding, it is also about other

0:23:130:23:17

measures being introduced to help,

for example hospitals linking with

0:23:170:23:22

social care providers, and they are

doing a great job already, and their

0:23:220:23:26

end of life care has recently been

rated outstanding.

We rightly focus

0:23:260:23:36

on the challenges, and it is a lot

going right. The Care Quality

0:23:360:23:45

Commission found that 80% of places

were good or outstanding, which is

0:23:450:23:54

good for a sector that is publicly

criticised.

I welcome the idea of a

0:23:540:24:03

green paper and I hope we can build

cross-party consensus for the long

0:24:030:24:06

term, but any change will be years

away from the Green paper, and the

0:24:060:24:11

problems are here and now for local

councils, and DLJ estimates that

0:24:110:24:20

there will be a funding gap of £2.6

million. Care homes are failing

0:24:200:24:26

because local authorities do not

have the resources they need. Where

0:24:260:24:33

is the money to make sure an

adequate social care system does not

0:24:330:24:36

get even worse next year?

I welcome

part of his comments. He is right,

0:24:360:24:44

and one of the reasons we are at

this stage is the absence of a

0:24:440:24:49

long-term security meaning some of

these issues are crystallising

0:24:490:24:54

rather more quickly than they

should. We have made more money

0:24:540:25:01

available to local authorities, but

local authorities more than any

0:25:010:25:03

other constituency in this place are

desperate for a solution, and it is

0:25:030:25:08

incumbent on all of us to have a

constructive discussion about the

0:25:080:25:11

solutions. I am aware there are some

challenges. Key challenges the CMA

0:25:110:25:19

report. There is a lot in the report

which frankly did not surprise me,

0:25:190:25:22

but we will bring forward a response

dealing with some of the issues that

0:25:220:25:26

he has in the New Year.

Can I thank

my honourable friend for her

0:25:260:25:34

statement and encourage her as

others have done to engage with the

0:25:340:25:37

whole House on this issue. But could

I also stress this incredibly

0:25:370:25:49

important factor of the crisis now

in certain areas of the country. We

0:25:490:25:54

must engage on across party bases

and on the crisis now, including in

0:25:540:26:00

my constituency.

I do not disagree

with much he has said. I would also

0:26:000:26:05

say that colleagues are talking

about a crisis. It is feared to say

0:26:050:26:12

that we put local authorities and

the care sector under a lot of

0:26:120:26:15

pressure this year getting ready for

the winter, and they have stepped up

0:26:150:26:19

to the plate. I would actually pay

tribute to everyone who works in the

0:26:190:26:26

sector with real care, and pay

tribute to the work they do, which

0:26:260:26:34

is delivering great care.

It is a

shocking statement today for the

0:26:340:26:43

thousands of families in this

country with the misery of social

0:26:430:26:46

care. The Minister refers to the

last government, the Conservative

0:26:460:26:53

manifesto was clear on what it was

seeking to do, introducing care

0:26:530:26:57

reform costs in 2016. A few weeks

into office, they changed that and

0:26:570:27:03

moved it. We had exchanges in the

House weeks ago on the 20th of

0:27:030:27:11

October, in response to the member

of New Forest West about the 2020

0:27:110:27:14

date, in which she inadvertently

misled Parliament. This is causing

0:27:140:27:28

silent misery for thousands of

people now. I am 53, will my

0:27:280:27:33

children be suffering the same level

of misery about my care costs in the

0:27:330:27:37

next 30 years that they have? When

will we see the date implemented?

It

0:27:370:27:49

has just been made clear that we

will be revisiting this. She wants

0:27:490:27:55

uncertainty about funding the care

system and what obligations there

0:27:550:28:04

will be, so we have to have the

public debate and work together to

0:28:040:28:08

bring some proposals putting the

system...

0:28:080:28:28

I hear noise from the other side

about cross-party consensus then I

0:28:290:28:33

look at the behaviour of the front

bench.

0:28:330:28:44

In particular in Torbay on this. One

issue is the complete lack of

0:28:460:28:51

understanding on how the current

system works with unlimited

0:28:510:28:55

liability, and also if you just

pretend a blunt cap, that means

0:28:550:28:58

little for someone who has worked

further whole lifetime. But it would

0:28:580:29:03

mean a lot to people with a £20

million pile in the south-east. We

0:29:030:29:07

have to look at how we do this on a

long-term basis.

He encapsulates the

0:29:070:29:14

problem in a nutshell. Many people

do not understand care has to be met

0:29:140:29:23

by the individual, and nobody

understands that they have to pay

0:29:230:29:25

for it until they have to. So we

cannot simply implement the

0:29:250:29:29

proposals that went before because

people do not understand. If we're

0:29:290:29:33

going to expect people who living

longer to fund that gear, we have to

0:29:330:29:37

take them with us, so we need to

achieve that through the green

0:29:370:29:43

paper. Honour among -- I would like

honourable members to engage with

0:29:430:29:50

the public about the care system and

how it can be improved for the

0:29:500:29:53

stability and the countries.

After

years of confusion for which the

0:29:530:30:00

government bears some

responsibility, tens of thousands of

0:30:000:30:07

carers receive justice on the

national minimum wage. This means

0:30:070:30:16

individuals on individual care

packages can face bankruptcy. Can we

0:30:160:30:29

have a debate on what could be a

catastrophe for the care sector?

He

0:30:290:30:36

is right to raise this, and to

reassure him we're acting now. We

0:30:360:30:39

are in very close contact with the

providers to address the issues he

0:30:390:30:43

has raised. Clearly it is important

that we ensure employers uphold

0:30:430:30:47

their obligations and minimum wage

legislation. Clearly we need to make

0:30:470:30:52

sure we're not putting anyone at

risk who is dependent on long-term

0:30:520:30:58

care, and I am satisfied no one is

at risk, and we are working in

0:30:580:31:02

detail with providers to ensure we

can get them through this.

In West

0:31:020:31:09

Sussex we have specific social care

issues currently under

0:31:090:31:14

investigation, but may I welcome

warmly the expert panel. Will the

0:31:140:31:21

Minister please ensure the panel was

-- is fully acquainted from issues

0:31:210:31:27

in previous scandals? Absolutely. He

mentions the expert panel. I think

0:31:270:31:35

it is important that we do take the

advice of people with front-end

0:31:350:31:40

experience of the sector. It is not

just about money, it is about

0:31:400:31:44

quality and getting right packages

and support and help, because we

0:31:440:31:50

need to think about achieving the

best possible care for individuals

0:31:500:31:54

as well as how it is paid for.

A

recent Barnardos report showed that

0:31:540:32:01

two thirds of child carers start

caring in primary school. Some as

0:32:010:32:07

young as four with long-term damage

on their mental and emotional

0:32:070:32:09

health. Will the Minister ensure

child carers are primary

0:32:090:32:15

responsibility for tackling from

government, and take them out

0:32:150:32:20

responsibility that we should not be

placing upon them?

I thank her for

0:32:200:32:29

her comments. She literally

highlights Cinderella in this

0:32:290:32:34

debate, to be frank, and it is

appalling that is a many children

0:32:340:32:37

are acting as carers. It is to their

long-term detriment, and we would be

0:32:370:32:46

failing as a society if we did not

do more to support them.

0:32:460:32:52

We need to tackle the challenge of

social care, it is a matter of

0:32:520:32:57

cross-party support and agreement.

The Labour Party in their manifesto

0:32:570:33:00

said they wanted to implement change

through consensus, an issue that

0:33:000:33:06

transcended party politics, so would

the minister welcome cross-party

0:33:060:33:09

approach is rather than political

point scoring?

I am very keen to

0:33:090:33:14

approach this in consensus. I do not

think we can deliver change without

0:33:140:33:20

consensus in truth. We have written

to all-party groups in the first

0:33:200:33:24

instance to engage with them but

over the course of the next six

0:33:240:33:28

months, I hope to engage in

conversations with members in all

0:33:280:33:33

parts of the House.

Of course there

is a short-term series of precious,

0:33:330:33:37

she has cited the CQC report which

is talking about decreasing numbers

0:33:370:33:45

of birds in nursing homes, contracts

being handed back to local

0:33:450:33:48

authorities because of the acute

financial pressure -- beds in

0:33:480:33:52

nursing homes. But there was a

longer-term issue here which all

0:33:520:33:55

members have been alluding to, the

need to try set aside some of the

0:33:550:34:00

party politics and to find a

cross-party way forward. The

0:34:000:34:04

honourable member for Totnes and

others wrote the Prime Minister

0:34:040:34:12

saying let us have a convention on

social care reform, can we do that?

0:34:120:34:18

It is the only way to crack the

problem.

I welcome the spirit in

0:34:180:34:24

which he has made his comments and

it is fair to say we are seeing the

0:34:240:34:29

same plea from local authorities who

of course are the front-end of

0:34:290:34:32

dealing with the problem. He is

absolutely right, we need to

0:34:320:34:37

separate the short-term pressures

from the long term and in terms of

0:34:370:34:41

long-term, we ought to be able to

have a more sensible conversation.

0:34:410:34:45

Let us save the politics for the

short-term and consensus for the

0:34:450:34:48

long-term.

Thank you. I appreciate

you giving me the opportunity to

0:34:480:34:56

come in as I missed the beginning of

the statement. My apologies. I

0:34:560:35:01

concur totally with what a number of

colleagues have said about the

0:35:010:35:04

issues here and now. There are some

absolutely significant issues for a

0:35:040:35:09

lot of councils and care homes. They

really cannot wait for a few years.

0:35:090:35:13

The here and now is the priority.

Two things, one negative, I would

0:35:130:35:19

like the Minister to take back to

the Chancellor, calling on the

0:35:190:35:23

Government to make a public

commitment to fund the back pay bill

0:35:230:35:26

for sleeping carers. -- sleep in

carers. If it is not sorted soon, a

0:35:260:35:34

number of very reputable

organisations are likely to go bust.

0:35:340:35:39

I would like to ask whether the

minister read this BMJ report

0:35:390:35:42

recently asked the meat indicating

how exercise can be a significant

0:35:420:35:47

miracle cure for older people --

asked the Minister?

I would be happy

0:35:470:35:55

to meet the honourable gentleman, I

am always looking for solutions. If

0:35:550:35:59

we can look after our own well-being

more effectively in terms of

0:35:590:36:03

physical and mental well-being, the

need for care will be diminished.

0:36:030:36:07

Another reason why we need to have

this public debate. Like the

0:36:070:36:10

honourable gentleman, he raises the

issues of sleep ins. It is a big

0:36:100:36:17

issue, we are working closely with

the sector to make sure we can

0:36:170:36:19

address this.

Thank you. I am

currently caring for my ath man with

0:36:190:36:28

dementia, living hundreds of miles

away on her own. -- for my mum who

0:36:280:36:37

is 80 years old. She gets excellent

care. My personal experience of

0:36:370:36:43

doorknocking in the election

demonstrated strongly to me the

0:36:430:36:46

public does not understand this and

dementia patients particularly not

0:36:460:36:51

able to understand how care can be

funded. Speaking to the Alzheimer's

0:36:510:36:55

Society, they were the people who

welcomed the focus in the manifesto

0:36:550:36:59

on this difficult issue. Can I ask

her to comment on the fact countries

0:36:590:37:05

across the world are facing similar

challenges? This is not about who is

0:37:050:37:09

in power in this government, it is a

feature of ageing societies. We must

0:37:090:37:14

look at it in the round.

She is

right. I mentioned local authorities

0:37:140:37:20

were very keen to us to find a

solution, but it is the Alzheimer's

0:37:200:37:24

lobby which is more keen than

anybody. At present, one in ten

0:37:240:37:28

people who face long-term care

bills. If we are looking at this

0:37:280:37:35

from an individual's risk, making

financial provision is not... We do

0:37:350:37:39

need a solution. For the one in ten

facing long-term care costs, it is

0:37:390:37:48

generally as a consequence of

dementia and it is significant and

0:37:480:37:51

that is what we are trying to tackle

by introducing a cap on overall

0:37:510:37:54

costs. It is white is very important

we all get involved. It is also why

0:37:540:37:59

I think the Alzheimer's lobby is

very keen we establish cross-party

0:37:590:38:04

consensus. She raises an interesting

point. The fact of the matter is

0:38:040:38:08

over the last 50 years, our

lifestyles have changed

0:38:080:38:12

significantly. My own family,

everybody lives within half a mile

0:38:120:38:17

of each other, it is easy for the

family to pick up care

0:38:170:38:21

responsibilities. I live 300 miles

away from them. That is increasingly

0:38:210:38:28

the pattern. Like her, knocking on

doors in the election, you see

0:38:280:38:33

people living many miles from their

families, that is something we have

0:38:330:38:37

failed to address over decades and

we need to address it now.

Thank

0:38:370:38:42

you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Can the

Minister update us on the financial

0:38:420:38:46

stability of the four seasons group

who care for over 17,000 vulnerable

0:38:460:38:51

residents across the UK?

I am aware

there has been considerable press

0:38:510:38:57

reporting of what is happening with

Four Seasons. Since Southern Cross

0:38:570:39:06

Cqc have been involved and they have

been stress testing exactly what is

0:39:060:39:10

happening, they were satisfied there

is no risk to any of the people that

0:39:100:39:16

Four Seasons. Beyond that, I cannot

say much, commercial issues for

0:39:160:39:20

them. He

0:39:200:39:21

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