Care Cost Cap ‘Undeliverable’ Says Labour Peer

Baroness Gillian Merron has ruled out a care cost cap as “undeliverable” following a contentious debate in the House of Lords earlier this week.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) parliamentary under-secretary was questioned by Baron George Young of Cookham on Monday in Parliament, where he accused Labour of backtracking on a “no plans to change” pledge in the lead up to the general election on the £86,000 cap on lifetime care costs, which the Conservatives had promised to introduce in October this year while still in government.

The former Conservative chief whip asked the House of Lords:
“My Lords, I welcome the proposals to improve pay and conditions for those working in the adult care sector that the noble Baroness just announced. But is she aware of the widespread dismay at the cancellation of the proposals for reform, due to come in next year, without anything being put in their place, particularly against the background of what Wes Streeting said during the campaign”:

“We don’t have any plans to change that situation and that’s the certainty and stability I want to give the system at this stage”?

Former Health Minister, Lord Warner, said that the Government’s announcement was “misguided”.
He went on to say, on the plans for reform:
“A Royal Commission and a vague aspiration for a National Care Service is … kicking the can along the road”.

“So should the Government not adopt the proposals put forward unanimously by two Lords Select Committees, chaired by the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, and the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, and make progress straightaway?”

Labour had proposed to fulfil this plan but have since abandoned the idea when chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the “£20 billion black hole” in public finances she claimed to have uncovered, but is disputed.

In response, Baroness Merron said:
“I understand that, whenever there is a change in direction, there is concern. I take the noble Lord’s point. The inherited commitment to implement the adult social care charging reforms, which would have been on course for next month, was undeliverable because the previous Government did not guarantee the money to do that.”

“It would have cost nearly £1 billion next year, rising to £4 billion by the end of the decade. There were many false dawns in respect of this long—and repeatedly—promised change. It is also the case that there was not adequate preparation to implement the charging reforms. Councils warned that they were impossible to deliver in full in the previously announced timeframe.”

“With all that in mind, I am sorry to say that we, as the new Government, had little alternative but to say that these were not funded or on course to be delivered. We will have to ensure that we offer a national care service, along with a new deal for care workers. We will continue to consult and listen to those with lived experience in order to get it right.”

Baroness Merron, as well as Labour’s Baroness Kay Andrews, went on to restate plans for a National Care Service, emphasising that reform of the care sector will not happen overnight.

Baroness Andrews said:
“There is no quick fix. This is a hugely complex problem, and the fair pay agreement is a very important first step. I have great ambitions… for a coherent and systemic change in the aspirations that we hold for social care, as well as the practical delivery.”

Baroness Merron added:
“The National Care Service, for example, is a 10-year vision, which will mean long-term reform of the sector, underpinned by national standards, making sure that locally delivered care will be of a high quality and consistent across the country.

“That is what people will want. We will continue to consult those with lived experience as well as engaging with workers, trade unions and the sector to make sure that we offer a new deal for care workers.”

She concluded: “I think it is very important that we make progress on the National Care Service in the short term, because we have to build the foundations by working with the sector and those with lived experience to develop those new national standards. It will be work in progress and I hope that noble lords will be patient but also press me about what progress we are making.”

Baroness Howarth of Breckland said:
“I congratulate the Government on the long-term care planning that they have, and the vision. As a long-term sufferer of cancer and therefore a consumer of both health and social care services over a period of time, I encourage the Minister to take a shorter-term view. Many of us do not have that long to wait for the 10-year plans and thereafter.”

“Something needs to happen quickly, not only to reform social care but to have that integration of health and social care, because most of us with complex needs need them to work together and be on one spectrum.”