The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC)
Committee has today published the Government’s response
to the Committee’s report on the long-term funding of adult
social care.
The Government’s response to the
Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee report Long-term
funding of adult social care, Second Special Report of Session
2022–23
Clive Betts, Chair of the
Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, has also
written to Helen Whatley, Minister of State in the Department for
Health and Social Care (DHSC), to raise concerns about the
Government’s outright rejection of four of the Committee’s
recommendations, including the recommendation calling on the
Government to publish a 10-year-plan for how its vision in the
People at the Heart of Care White Paper will be achieved (news
item available here).
The Chair’s correspondence also raises concerns about the lack of
clarity and detail on how and when the Government will implement
the Committee’s remaining recommendations, most of which have
only been partially accepted.
Clive Betts, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities Committee, said: “It is disappointing that
the Government have not taken this opportunity to set out in
detail, with clear milestones, how its vision in the People at
the at the Heart of Care White Paper will be achieved. Adult
social care needs a long-term plan to help ensure people get the
support they need to remain independent at home and that the
social care workforce receive the recognition and career
development they deserve.
“Adult social care remains a key priority and it is of great
concern that there continues to be a large funding gap which
needs to be filled. Those in need of care, their loved ones, and
care staff deserve better.”
The LUHC Committee’s report, published on 4
August 2022, said that the Government’s approach to adult social
care was little more than a vision, with no roadmap, no
timetable, no milestones, and no measures of success (see
news item).
The Committee’s report examined a range of issues relating to the
financing of adult social care and made a series of
recommendations on issues such as Government’s charging reforms
and local government finance, unpaid carers and the workforce
challenge.
