(CB): My Lords, last
week, with the Salvation Army the charity the International
Longevity Centre UK, which I head, published a report on the
funding gap in social care, in particular for older people living
in rural areas. The report summarised it very well by saying that
there is not just one crisis but lots of crises and that local
leadership alone cannot overturn the inequalities. As co-chair of
the All-Party Group on Adult Social Care, I hope that the Minister
can assure me that Her Majesty’s refreshed Government will now
prioritise this issue in the way I have suggested.
: The
noble Baroness phrased that very elegantly—I shall use the term
“refreshed Government” myself. I will make the gentle point that
the funding available for adult social care has increased by 8%
in real terms from 2015-16 to 2019-20, which is a step in the
right direction. However, there is a recognition that, to put it
on a sustainable footing for the future, there needs to be a
settlement in the upcoming spending review. That is recognised.
On the point she made about rural areas, which is important, a
lot of this hinges on workforce recruitment and retention, which
can be more challenging in rural areas. That is why the
Government have invested £3 million in the Every Day is Different
national adult social care recruitment campaign, to encourage
more people to apply to work in the social care sector and to
raise its profile. This has had some success already, which is an
encouraging picture. We need to work harder on that.
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