Conor McGinn, MP for St Helens North, has exposed government’s betrayal of over 100,000 pensioners after delays to implement social care reforms.
The Government pledged to introduce a cap of хЃ72,000 on the amount people have to pay towards their care in old age by April 2016, however, this has now been delayed until 2020.
A parliamentary question tabled by McGinn, led the government to reveal that the delay means that 23,000 pensioner’s will miss out immediately. A further 80,000 will also no longer receive state support over the next decade.
Commenting McGinn said:
“It is shambolic that as a result of this government’s failure over 100,000 pensioners will lose out. To delay the implementation of the cap until 2020 is simply unacceptable.
“Many older people in my constituency and across the UK struggle with the spiralling cost of social care, and the cap promised by the government would have helped mitigate these costs.
“The government should be doing all it can to ensure older people have the support they need to pay for social care now, not in 5 years’ time.
“This is clearly another broken promise from a Tory government failing to deliver.”
Further coverage of this story and the parliamentary question in full can below.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3299637/100-000-pensioners-lose-care-fees-betrayal-Ministers-admit-time-people-affected-decision-delay-introducing-cap.html
Parliamentary question
Conor McGinn, MP for St Helens North: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the delay in reform of social care funding until 2020 on the provision of social care; and how many people will be affected by that delay in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) the North West and (c) the UK. (11088)
Answer:
Alistair Burt, Minister of State for Community and Social Care: We remain committed to the implementation of the cap on care costs, which will offer financial protection and peace of mind. The decision to delay followed careful consideration of feedback from stakeholders that April 2016 was not the right time to implement these significant and expensive reforms. The benefits of the cap have had to be weighed against the need to focus on supporting the system that supports the most vulnerable.
In reaching the difficult decision to delay we considered the impact on those who would have entered the cap system from April next year. Though they will not benefit from the additional help straightaway, many will still benefit from the cap system when it is introduced in 2020. The delay will allow local authorities time to focus on consolidating the important reforms to care and support introduced on 1 April 2015, laying the groundwork to implement the funding reforms as successfully as possible in 2020.
Based on the most recent impact assessment, had the cap system been implemented in April 2016, around 23,000 older people in England would have benefitted immediately in 2016/17 and by 2025/26 up to 80,000 additional older people would have received state support.
Information regarding how many people will be affected by the delay in specific constituencies or regions is not held in the format requested. Means-tested financial support remains available for those who cannot afford to pay for care to meet their eligible needs.