PM vows to tackle social care reform as Corbyn tells her to ‘get a grip’

Theresa May has claimed the Government will not duck the need to reform social care funding after being urged to “get a grip” by Jeremy Corbyn.

The Prime Minister vowed to deliver a “long-term sustainable system” which “gives reassurance to people”, amid moves to ease short-term funding problems by allowing local authorities in England to bring forward council tax increases totalling 6% over the next two years.

Labour leader Mr Corbyn demanded Mrs May ensures the system is “properly” funded, adding that £4.6 billion was cut from the social care budget between 2010 and 2015.

He also said Mrs May should cancel a cut to corporation tax cut and put the money into social care.

In lively exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Corbyn told Mrs May: “This is a social care system that’s deep in crisis. The crisis is made in Downing Street by this Government.”

He added that people are forced to give up work to care for loved ones because “there isn’t the system to do it”, with others needing to stay in hospital for longer than they should.

Mr Corbyn went on: “It leads people into a horrible, isolated life when they should be cared for by all of us through a properly funded social care system.

“Get a grip and fund it properly, please.”

Mrs May replied: “The issue of social care is indeed one that has been ducked by governments for too long.

“That is why it is this Government that will provide a long-term sustainable system for social care that gives reassurance to people.

“But when you talk about governments ducking social care, let’s look at that 13 years of Labour in government.

“They said in 1997 they said they’d sort it in their manifesto. They had a royal commission in 1999, a Green Paper in 2005, the Wanless report in 2006, in 2007 in the CSR (comprehensive spending review) they said they’d sort it, in 2009 they had another Green Paper.

“Thirteen years and no action whatsoever.”

Earlier, Mrs May said the Government recognised there are “immediate” pressures on social care – which will be addressed by changes to the “social care precept” that allows town halls to raise bills by a certain amount to raise extra funds.

She also said: “There’s a short-term issue, there’s a medium-term need to make sure local authorities and the health service are delivering consistently, and there’s a long-term solution that we need to find.”

Mr Corbyn told the PM: “Your talk of putting it on to local government ought to be taken for what it is – a con.

“Two percent of council tax is clearly a nonsense – 95% of councils use this social care precept and it raised less than 3% of the money they plan to spend on adult social care.”

He said raising council tax has different outcomes in different parts of the country, adding: “For example, if you raise the council tax in Windsor and Maidenhead you get quite a lot of money.

“If you raise the council tax precept in Liverpool or Newcastle, you get a lot less.

“Are you saying that older people, frail, elderly, vulnerable people are less valuable in our big cities than they are in wealthier parts of the country?”

Mr Corbyn said the “crisis” has an impact on individuals, families and the NHS.

He also told Mrs May: “Why don’t you do something really bold – cancel the corporation tax cut and put the money into social care instead?”

Mrs May said Newcastle is one of the councils which in September had “virtually no delayed discharges”, telling the Commons: “So elderly people were not being held up in hospital when they didn’t need to be and when they didn’t want to be.

“So what this shows is that it is possible for councils to deliver on the ground.

“So you see councils like Newcastle and Torbay doing that, and then you see councils like Ealing not using the social care precept and a different result.

“The difference between the worst-performing council in relation to delayed discharges and the best is a 20-fold difference.

“That’s not about the difference of funding, it’s about the difference of delivery.”

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