12 February 2010

This week the issue of social care has once again been at the forefront of the political debate. I must admit I continue to be surprised by the ongoing opposition by the Conservative Party to this policy. Social care has already seen dramatic reform in Scotland and it is about time that we had the same level of modernisation in England and Wales.
 
With people living longer we need to look at ways in which we can improve the care that people will need as they get older. This is in my opinion one of the most basic of human rights and should be a priority for any Government.
 
Of course we always need to have a full and open debate about any changes of this size. The problem is that we cannot have a full and open debate until the Tories finally share with the rest of us what their policy actually is.
 
They seem to be very good at opposing policies but not so good at creating policies. That is fine in opposition but Government is about making choices and sticking by them and they have simply not proved they can do this on this issue.
 
There continues to be a great deal of scaremongering going on regarding the funding of a new care service. The Government has stated that it has not yet made a final decision as to which of the suggested routes it should go down with regards funding. What they have promised, however, contrary to some reports, is that the Government  it is absolutely not going to fund social care by cutting DLA and attendance allowance with the Health Secretary saying “Those currently receiving Attendance Allowance and those over 65 receiving DLA would continue to receive an equivalent level of support and protection in any reformed system.”
 
By opening the policy up to public consultation the Government allowed people to have a direct say in the outcome. We had a social care conference in Crawley with the Care Services Minister last year where he got to hear a wide range of views from local carers and charities.
 
This is something that will affect us all so we all have a stake in. In my opinion we need to be just as bold in the way we tackle the problems of social care as the 1945 Labour Government was in establishing the NHS.