Age UK predict worsening crisis if Government fails to show leadership on social care

Older people’s charity Age UK have called on the Government to act quickly on care reform, claiming the system is already in crisis due to the effects of spiralling costs and demand.

The charity estimates the number of individuals having to meet all their care costs as increasing from 490,000 to 530,000 by 2015, and to 670,000 by 2025, calculating the cost of care to families as rising from £8.4bn to £17.5bn over thirteen years.

Director general Michelle Mitchell commented: “Over the years support for care services has been eroded to the point where the system is in crisis.

“This means that more and more of the burden of paying for care has been pushed onto older people and their families without any wider discussion about the fairest way of funding these essential services.

“This is why we need leadership from the Government to frame an urgent debate on radical reform of the care system.”

The Coalition remains poised to debate the proposals of the Dilnot Commission, which include a cap of £35,000 on individual care costs, however a White Paper on the reform had originally been scheduled for April but has now been put back to the end of the summer.

Rumours voiced by political commentators suggest that some Government ministers favour placing the cap at £100,000 instead, in order to avoid placing such a heavy burden on the public purse, although in his Budget Chancellor George Osborne pledged to “address the rising costs of an ageing population, and the burden this places on future generations”.