In response to the Government’s announcement on setting out proposals for social care on Wednesday 16 November, Mark Lever and Caroline Abrahams said:
“The fact that the Government has stated today that it will be bringing forward a Green Paper on Social Care, in or by the summer of 2018, is welcome news after months when it seemed nothing might happen at all. However, the Care and Support Alliance (CSA) has always been clear that our test of the Government’s proposals will be the extent to which they create a system capable of giving everyone the high quality care and support they need, whether they are disabled, an older person, or an informal carer.
“From this point of view we are very disappointed to learn that the Green Paper will be focused tightly on older people and while it is good news that there will be a parallel workstream to explore the needs of disabled adults, the jury is out for us, for now, as to whether this will be enough to deliver the balanced outcomes required. In this context we are also very concerned that the Carers’ Strategy is so long overdue.
“The fact that this Government is prepared to grasp the nettle of social care reform after so many successive governments have declined to do so is to their credit, but the CSA remains firmly of the view that the only sustainable and equitable solution for the social care crisis is one that delivers equally well for everyone with care needs in our society.”