The delay of the cap on care costs until 2020 was announced more than a week ago, but the story was given new life on Sunday when the Observer reported that the U-turn had cost taxpayers between £50m–£100m.
Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the health select committee, has written to the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt (pdf), asking for clarification about the delay of the policy – a key commitment in the Conservative party manifesto – and to express her “concern at the way this announcement was made”, in a written statement to the House of Lords. Hunt will face questioning by the committee in September.
The £72,000 cap was due to be introduced in April 2016 as part of the second phase of the Care Act. It was put back until 2020 after councils wrote to the Department of Health asking for the launch to be deferred, due to funding pressures faced by local authorities.
In her letter, Wollaston also asked whether the introduction of the national living wage was “responsible for delaying implementation of the Care Act”. Care organisations have expressed concern that the new living wage will have a huge impact on the cost of delivering care.
Reaction to the delay has been mixed, with many care organisations expressing relief that local authorities would not have to try to fund the introduction of the cap next year. Harold Bodmer, vice president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said: “the pressures of rising demand, punitively reduced budgets and the impending obligation to pay an enhanced national living wage have all put an intolerable strain on social care finance”. But Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Society, argued that the delay would “cause unacceptable costs to continue to be borne by people with dementia and their families into the next decade”.
What do you think of the delay: is it justifiable? If you work for a local authority, do you think it would have been possible to implement the cap next year? Or are you an older or disabled person, or their relative, wondering how to afford care now that the cap won’t be imposed for another four years.
We want to hear your views – let us know what you think in the comments section below, or tweet us @GdnSocialCare.
