Ahead of the 2015 Spending Review, organisations from across the care sector have called on the government to commit to redirecting money saved as a result of the deferral of the care cap, into reversing the decline in the care system.

Representing older and disabled people, as well as carers and families, a coalition of coalitions, including The Care and Support Alliance, Care Providers Alliance, Voluntary Organisations Disability Group, Association for Real Change and Age UK, warns that in the years since the cap was first promised, cuts in funding have driven the care system into crisis. Half a million people have been cut out of the system, and two in five services are now rated as ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ by the regulator.

The CSA accepted the Government’s July announcement to delay the implementation of the cap on care costs for 5 years, as it was hoped that the £6 billion saved as a result of the deferral could be used to shore up the failing care system. The Alliance stated that to introduce a cap without doing anything to address the underfunding of social care would be a recipe for disaster.

Chair of the Care and Support Alliance, Vicky McDermott, said:

“The care system is in crisis. Extra funding is urgently needed, given the hundreds of thousands of older and disabled people who need support just to do the basics – like getting up or out of the their house.

“In the upcoming Spending Review, the government must ensure that all the money saved by deferring the cap is redirected into reversing the decline in the care system. If this is not announced we would consider this a betrayal of the tens of thousands of people who would have benefitted from the care cap and now face potentially unlimited costs of care.”

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Laura Brown – Sense

020 7014 9379 Laura.Brown@sense.org.uk

Editors Notes:

Case Study available on request

About:

The Care and Support Alliance

Set up in July 2009, the C&SA is a consortium of more than 75 organisations that represent and support older and disabled people, including disabled children, those with long-term conditions and their families, and campaigns to keep adult care funding and reform on the political agenda. http://careandsupportalliance.com/

Social care
NHS information on social care:

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/Pages/what-is-social-care.aspx

Government information on social care:

https://www.gov.uk/government/topics/social-care