Care Services: Elderly People
House of Lords

Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated)

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that cross-party talks resume concerning the funding of long-term care for the elderly.

Earl Howe (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Quality), Health; Conservative)

The Government have always been clear about the importance of achieving a long-term consensus on reform of the funding system for adult social care.

On 11 July the Government published the White Paper Caring for our Future: Reforming Care and Support, the draft Care and Support Bill and a progress report on social care funding. The measures set out in these documents reflect wide-ranging discussions over recent months, both with the care sector and with the Official Opposition. Together they represent the most comprehensive overhaul of care and support since 1948.

As set out in the progress report on funding, the Government agree with the principles of the Dilnot recommendations and intend to base a new funding model on these principles if a way to pay for it can be found. Given the size of the structural deficit and the economic situation we face, it is right that the final decision is considered alongside other priorities at the Spending Review.

The progress report sets out some key implementation questions that the Government now want to consider with the care sector. We will engage with stakeholders to explore options for what shape a reformed system could take. We very much hope that the Official Opposition will continue to play a part in this engagement with the objective of achieving shared consensus on social care funding reform.