The National Care Forum has responded to the Chancellor’s decision to scrap planned social care reform.
In her Spending Inheritance Statement, Rachel Reeves confirmed that, as part of her efforts to plug an apparent £22bn hole in the public finances, the government would not be taking forward planned charging reforms for adult social care.
Vic Rayner OBE, CEO of NCF, said: “We’re deeply disappointed the chancellor has announced that the proposed suite of charging reforms for adult social care will no longer be taken forward. Secretary of state for health and social care, Wes Streeting said just weeks before the general election that he wanted to give the system the certainty before the election that Labour would not 'come in', 'unpick' and 'scrap' plans for social care reform without a feasible alternative.
However, we are just a few weeks into the new government's tenure and this appears to be exactly what has borne out. This is particularly disheartening coming just a few days after the Care and Support Alliance published a startling report detailing the deeply unfair postcode lottery people requesting care and support face every day. The £1bn in savings announced is more than a number – it represents tens of thousands of people who will struggle to pay for their own care.”
