Political row erupts over social care funding

2010-03-15 11:44:17

The growing tensions between the three main political parties around the future of social care funding have erupted into fierce Parliamentary debates and a row that was broadcast live on BBC One’s The Politics Show. Trouble flared after 78 social care leaders wrote an open letter to the Times newspaper, in which they detailed their concerns that Gordon Brown’s plans to provide free home care for 400,000 vulnerable people are ‘...unclear, unfunded and likely to have a significant impact on existing local services, including possible cuts and rises in council tax.’ Although the councillors voice their support for reforming the social care system so that those with the critical care needs receive more help, they criticise the government for raising false expectations in vulnerable people. They also argue that is unrealistic to expect local authorities to fund £250 million of the total £670 million costs of providing free home care, when they are already being asked to make significant efficiency savings. The letter closes by urging the government to ‘...commission urgently an independent review of the (free care) proposals.’ After the letter’s appearance in the Times the issue was raised in Parliament, where Conservative leader David Cameron challenged Gordon Brown to reveal where the funding for the Personal Care at Home Bill will come from. Mr Brown responded by accusing Mr Cameron of taking a ‘u turn on policy ‘– a reference to the fact that the Tories had previously pledged their support to funding free care. It was then revealed that the three main parties had been meeting privately in December 2009 to try to establish common ground for progressing social care reform. They had reached agreement in a number of key areas, but negotiations broke down when the Conservative Shadow Health Secretary refused to accept a compulsory inheritance levy of up to £20,000 as a funding option. There were also disagreements over the reform of certain disability benefits. Matters came to a head when a recent article in the Guardian newspaper indicated that Labour may be in favour of pursuing the inheritance levy option. The Conservatives immediately responded by calling the levy a ‘death tax’ and circulating a poster showing a gravestone with the accompanying words ‘RIP off’. This move has been roundly condemned for further reducing a serious matter to political point-scoring.  The MPs’ behaviour prompted a consortium of 18 charities to write their own letter to the Times, in which they call for the three main parties to put stop squabbling and focus on creating realistic, costed proposals for the future funding of elderly care. Health secretary Andy Burnham then invited ministers, care providers, local authorities and charities to attend an emergency debate in mid February to try and put negotiations back on track. However, the Shadow Health Minister, Andrew Lansley, refused to attend unless the compulsory inheritance levy was removed as a possible funding option. Mr Lansley stated that the levy is unfair on people who decide to care for their relatives at home instead of moving them to a care home and that it is ‘...at odds with the wider structure of social care reform’. Mr Burnham refused to discount the levy, although he stressed that a variety of compulsory and voluntary options were all open to discussion; he denied Mr Lansley’s accusation that Labour has already secretly made its mind up to implement the ‘death tax.’ Mr Burnham also said that the £20,000 levy would be the maximum payable and the levy would be means-tested. The conference went ahead without the Conservative party being represented. Negotiations are currently underway for another conference to take place, to be organised by the consortium of charities, which the Conservative party is expected to attend. You can read more about the social care debate and related issues by following the below links to selected news articles: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7021299.ece http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8507521.stm http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/feb/14/tories-accused-over-elderly-care http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8523836.stm