LGA Responds To Reform Report On Social Care

“We need fundamental changes to the social care system if we are deliver a long-term sustainable funding solution that works for everyone in society.”

Responding to a new report on social care from the think-tank Reform, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, Cllr Izzi Seccombe, said:

“We need fundamental changes to the social care system if we are deliver a long-term sustainable funding solution that works for everyone in society.

“Therefore, regardless of whether or not they are the way forward, it is essential that ideas for reform of this magnitude are brought to the table for consideration, rather than piecemeal measures that merely tinker around the edges, and do not get to the root of the problem.

“In rightly proposing change on such a level, this report also illustrates the difficult, brave and possibly even controversial decision-making that will be required to secure the long-term future of care and support.

“We need a set of proposals that includes how best to share the costs of care equitably between the state and individual, as well as a consideration of whether or not the cost should be met only by those who require care or whether it should be shared more broadly.

“That’s why it is vital that a national debate on this subject has cross-party backing. Without this, any proposals to tackle the funding crisis in social care and deliver lasting reform will fail.”