Social care sector urge Streeting to change course with recent announcements ‘bitter pill’

The Labour Government must “change course” on its approach to social care, dozens of sector leaders have said, as they described how announcements this week on funding and charging reforms had been a “bitter pill” to swallow.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves used a wider speech on public finances on Monday to state that previously-delayed adult social care charging reforms will not be taken forward.

This was followed by a written statement from care minister Stephen Kinnock late on Tuesday just as Parliament entered summer recess, in which he said the Government had decided not to go ahead with a fund dedicated to training the social care workforce.

A letter on behalf of the leaders of some 30 organisations in the sector, including Care England, the National Care Forum, Learning Disability England and the Homecare Association, has been sent to Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

It said: “The last few days have raised alarm bells for those working in adult social care and those drawing on care and support services.

“Warm words about the economic importance of adult social care and the commitment to identify a cross-party solution to this fundamental public service have rung hollow in light of decisions announced around funding and reform.”

The letter described how “choosing not to progress both charging reform and the training and development fund is a bitter pill for social care in a climate where other public services and their workforces are finally having their contribution recognised”.

The groups called for “positive action on social care”, adding that there is “time, political capital, and the expertise of a united social care sector to make this happen”.

They added: “We urge the Government to change course and we stand ready to help you transform social care for the millions who work in it and most vitally, rely upon it.”

The decision not to proceed in October 2025 with the charging reforms, including an £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England has to spend on their personal care over their lifetime, will save a projected £1 billion by the end of that year, the Government has said.

Just a day after that announcement, Mr Kinnock said the adult social care training and development fund, which was announced in provisional form by the previous government in April, will not be taken forward due to the need to “manage down overall fiscal pressures in 2024-25”.

The minister said the Government still intends to provide funding for adult social care “learning and development, with the budget maintained at the level we spent last year”.

The decision was branded “desperately short-sighted” by the Nuffield Trust, which said it “looks like yet another troubling decision to deprioritise social care in order to plug gaps in health funding”.

The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.

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