‘Partnership Model’ Would Ease Elderly Funding Crisis

The idea of a ‘partnership model’ to improve the lack of funding in social care is being supported by charity for the elderly, Counsel and Care. Caroline Bernard, policy and communications manager for the organisation, said that social care funding “needs to be addressed” and a partnership model is one of the better options.

This would involve contributions from both the individual and the government, in a similar way to which National Insurance contributions go towards the nation’s healthcare.

While the prospect of taxation to fund social care might not be welcomed by everyone, Ms Bernard believes it is a move that would ultimately be supported.”Given that we know that there is going to be a long term issue here, with social care, we need to think about how we can best plan for that,” she explained.

“People have said in surveys that they would be interested in paying a tiny bit more on their tax to provide for care.” Ms Bernard added such a model has been supported in the past by Counsel and Care and while she acknowledged there were other avenues to investigate, “doing nothing is not an option. As the population ages, it could get worse. If nothing’s done now then it will get worse,” she concluded.