The Treasury Committee today publishes the Government’s response
to a request for an impact assessment on proposed changes to
adult social care.
The response follows a request from the
Chair of the Treasury Committee, Rt. Hon. MP, for a regional and distributional analysis of the
recent announcement of changes to adult social care charging.
In the letter, the Chair requested details on how many
individuals the Government anticipates would be at risk of
selling their home under the proposed changes, as well as an
assessment of the policy’s impact split by household and
individual income.
In the response, the Government acknowledges that it is unable to
provide regional or individual assessments, as the funding at a
local authority level has not yet been agreed. It outlines that a
full impact assessment will be published in the new year.
Commenting on the response, Rt. Hon. MP, Chair of the Treasury Committee, said:
“It is disappointing that the Government’s response to my request
for an impact assessment on these changes was received so late in
the day. The letter, which was sent half an hour before
Parliament was set to vote on the changes last night, does not
provide the full assessment requested.
“I have real concerns about the way these changes have been
introduced and the Treasury Committee will continue to keep up
the pressure on the Government to publish a full impact
assessment as soon as possible.”
The correspondence follows an evidence session held
on Thursday 18 November with Sir Andrew Dilnot, former Chairman
of the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support, and Sally
Warren, Director of Policy at The King’s Fund. The transcript of
the session can be found here.
The hearing and correspondence forms part of the Committee’s
inquiry into the Autumn Budget and Spending
Review 2021.
