Health and Social Services Minister will today outline the
ambitious programme of work to explore a social care levy for
Wales.
He will take over the work of chairing the inter-Ministerial
group on paying for social care, which was set up last year to
investigate the future funding options and social care models to
meet rising demand.
The group will use the report by Professor Gerald Holtham about a
social care levy as the basis for its work. The report, which was
commissioned by the Welsh Government, will be debated by the
National Assembly today (Tuesday January 8).
Mr Gething said: “How we meet the costs of caring for an ageing
population is a complex and challenging question, which faces
most of the developed world.
“We have made enormous progress in improving healthcare and
tackling illness, helping us all to live longer, disease-free
lives and our model of social care needs to keep pace given the
importance of people’s individual independence and of its
interplay with the wider healthcare system.
“The Welsh Government has prioritised social care and we are
committed to developing innovative funding models to support
future costs.
“A levy is one of the options for raising additional funding for
social care. This requires careful consideration alongside all
other options including insurance models.”
Professor Holtham’s idea for a social care levy was one of four
new tax ideas to emerge from the national debate about new taxes
in the summer of 2017. His report and economic analysis was
published in June 2018.
Today, Assembly Members will debate the report and ideas for
raising additional funding for social care in the future.
The Welsh Government has prioritised funding for health and
social services combined – official Treasury figures show
spending per person on these functions increased by 3.8% in Wales
in 2017-18, the highest increase of any of the four UK countries.
Spending per person on health and social services in Wales is 11%
higher than in England – equivalent to an extra £290 per person.
Finance Minister said: “The proportion of
people over the age of 75 years in Wales is projected to increase
by more than 40% by 2030, and by more than 70% by 2040; and the
number of people over 85 is projected to more than double by
2040.
“All this is good news, but it does mean that we need to find a
longer-term way of funding social care to help people live
independently.
“It was against these forecasts that Professor Holtham proposed a
levy on income to help pay for care.
“He proposed the proceeds from the levy helping to fund the
immediate costs of care for older people, with the remainder
being placed in a ring-fenced fund and invested to help cover
expected increases in the demand for care by future generations.”
Notes
There was a 13% increase in cash terms in social care funding
between 2010-11 and 2017-18 – almost three times the rate of
increase in cash terms in the Welsh Government's overall budget.
Wales has a higher proportion of older people than England, but
even allowing for that, social care spending per person over 65
in 2017-18 was 23% higher in Wales than in England, up from
around 8% higher in 2010-11.
