Personal Care at Home Bill (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Personal Care at Home Bill

April 6, 2010 2:30 PM
By Cllr Zoe Patrick in Full Council

I still believe my motion is highly relevant, because it is unclear how the policy will be funded, despite assurance from those speaking from the Labour benches this afternoon. I still think that the Leader should write to the Secretary of State for Health, and the Shadow Secretary of State reiterating our concerns about this issue, and I hope that what has been raised this afternoon has been noted down in order for us to do this.

The 'Big Care Debate' on the future of adult social care was launched in May last year and concluded in November. The Green Paper 'Shaping the Future of Care Together' was published in July and finally the White Paper 'Building the National Care Service' was published last month.

Throughout the whole process the LGA (of which I am a member of the Community Wellbeing Board) has had many presentations and discussions - indeed I have shared much of my time on this with Cllr. Couchman who is also a member of the board.

As far as I am aware three significant conclusions have been drawn

• The Government has listened to many of the arguments made and appears to have taken some on board

• It is recognised that "local authorities will continue to have a lead role in delivering care"

• With difficult decisions on funding still to be made, the future of care and support will remain one of the biggest public policy issues facing a new government and society as a whole. Local government must continue to play a central role.

The White Paper sets out proposals for a National Care Service that is comprehensive, universal and free at the point of need. There will be a staged process of reform over the next five years which will culminate in the implementation of the care service. However there are still several stages to get through after the General Election for whichever party has to take up the issue in government.

We can all support the principle of helping more people with care needs to stay in their own homes. This can only be described as a positive step towards the closer alignment of health and social care spending which we have long called for. However, there had been concern with the proposed timetable for the implementation of the policy and thankfully this was addressed through the Lords when the implementation was delayed until April 2011. But of course, the biggest concern was around the proposed funding and whether the £250 million would be part of or additional to council's 4% efficiency requirement for 2010/11.

The White Paper sets out six principles which includes, being universal, being free when people need it and based on need, rather than ability to pay. It will be a partnership with the different organisations, should ensure choice and control, support families and carers, and be accessible and easy to understand - but all of this is a very big ask - and that is why we still need to express our concern.

Funding of social care could be huge, especially for those who have long-term health issues or for those suffering from dementia, so unless local authorities are to be left with very large budget deficits, then we need to be planning ahead now. We cannot do this unless we are fully aware of budget commitments from our partners in health, and of course, how much funding will come from central government?

There will be a huge squeeze on public spending whoever wins the next election, so national funding for this scheme is still unclear, hence the importance of setting our stall out in writing in the hope that we shall have some of those concerns addressed now rather than later, when it could be too late.

The White Paper says "Local authorities will have a statutory responsibility for leading the National Care Service locally. This will include information and advice on care and support, carrying out assessments, applying national rules, safeguarding vulnerable people, encouraging care and support suppliers to innovate and widen the range of services, and working with other public services to secure better health and wellbeing" this is a big ask - so we must set out our concerns

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats