Reaction to Labour Party manifesto

Our Director of Policy Gemma Hope said:

‘The Labour Party’s proposal to introduce free personal care for older people is an important step in making much-needed social care accessible. But social care isn’t just for people over 65. In fact, working-age disabled adults receive half of all social care spending. 

‘The continued underfunding of social care has resulted in access to care being restricted. A quarter of disabled adults who rely on council funding have had their care cut over the last year.

‘This support is desperately needed for disabled people to be able to live with dignity and independence. We need concrete plans that extend free care to working-age adults to avoid a two-tier system of access to social care.’

What we’re calling for

We are calling on every party to commit to urgently bring forward proposals for a new sustainable funding model for social care and it is essential that this model includes the following features:

• Commit to ensuring the care and support needs of working age sick and disabled adults are central to any plan for change, as well as older people.
• Ensure social care is free at the point of use. The risk of paying for care should be pooled across the whole adult population, with care being free at the point of use.
• Social care must be accessible to those who need it. 
• There must be an independent, standardised national eligibility threshold and assessment process for social care.
• Eligibility to receive care should sit at the ‘moderate’ level.
• More practical and financial support should be made available for unpaid carers.