Government confirms delay to Care Act reforms
Social care insiders have called on the government to invest more money into services following the delayed implementation of the cap on care costs.
Last week the government announced that the cap, which was set to be introduced in April 2016, would not come in until 2020.
Announcing the delay last week, Alistair Burt, the minister for community and social care, said: “A time of consolidation is not the right moment to be implementing expensive new commitments, especially when there are no indications the private insurance market will develop as expected.”
The delay would allow more time to better understand the cap’s impact on the care market, according to Mr Burt, and ensure that all parties were ready to introduce the new system.
Harold Bodmer, vice president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said the delay was understandable and inevitable.
He said: “The important issue now must be to ensure that current services can benefit from the extra funding this decision makes available.
“This ought to be the beginning of a thorough-going, transparent process, through the coming spending review, of putting fair, equitable and fully-funded social care services back on track after what have been five devastating years.”
Izzi Seccombe, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, pointed out the funding gap of £700m a year in social care.
She said: “We cannot reform the way people pay for adult social care when the system itself is on such an unstable foundation.
“Any money from delaying the reforms must be put back into adult social care services and support putting it on a sustainable footing.”
Email: jonny.paul@ft.com
| Key facts |
Under the Care Act, councils must help people access independent financial advice, if needed, as they plan how to fund care. The Act gives those who need the care a legal right to be assessed for local authority support, introduces a duty for authorities to promote a person’s well-being in decisions about his care. Proposals to cap care costs at £72,000 and create a supporting private insurance market are set to cost £6bn over the next five years, according to the government. |
Adviser View
Lorreine Kennedy, head of care fees advice at Hertfordshire-based Carematters, said: “It was a tall order to have the cap in place for next year, and I am not sure where the money would have come from, so I think it was not properly thought through. The delay, however, will mean it will be another nine years before anyone benefits.”
