Keir Starmer’s three-year delay to social care reforms was condemned by the architect of the previous plan today.
Sir Andrew Dilnot said the timetable for a new review launched by Labour is ‘inappropriate’ – and warning that progress could be derailed again by the looming election.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting last week announced an independent commission, led by Baroness Louise Casey, will begin in April.
However, despite Keir Starmer admitting the situation is ‘urgent’ the Government confirmed that a second phase, making long-term recommendations, might not report until 2028.
Appearing before the Health and Social Care committee this morning, Sr Andrew said: ‘I’d certainly like to see it report earlier and I very much hope that it will. I don’t get the impression that Louise Casey is somebody who likes to hang about.
‘I can’t think of any reason why it should take three years, I simply can’t.
Sir Andrew Dilnot said the timetable for a new review launched by Labour is ‘inappropriate’ – and warning that progress could be derailed again by the looming election
Keir Starmer’s three-year delay to social care reforms was condemned by the architect of the previous plan today
‘The commission that I was part of took a year, a year from being commissioned to final reporting…
‘Three years seems to me an inappropriate time, and in particular it gets us too close to the next election.’
He added: ‘I think it’s perfectly, perfectly feasible for the Government to expect… by the end of 2025 to say, ‘actually, we know what needs to be done, this is what we’re going to do’.
‘That’s perfectly feasible. We understand the challenges, we understand what the options are. It’s really a matter of political courage and political decision making.’
Sir Andrew led a review into the future of funding social care and published his proposals in 2011.
But despite Dilnot-style reforms having been accepted by previous governments, they have yet to be enacted.
Labour faced criticism last summer for scrapping plans for an £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England would need to spend on their personal care over their lifetime, having argued the proposals were not ‘deliverable’ in the timeframe.
Sir Andrew told MPs: ‘I think it’s so blindingly – excuse my language – bleedin’ obvious that something should be done here that, in the end, in an intelligent, affluent, civilised society, we get this done. To be absolutely blunt I think the critical thing here will be the Prime Minister.’
He added that ‘to get something like this done a prime minster has to be committed to it’.
He said: ‘I think Sir Keir’s views will be absolutely critical in this and if the Prime Minister gets behind this then something, I think, will happen.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting last week announced an independent commission, led by Baroness Louise Casey, will begin in April
‘So I am optimistic. I’m always vague about timescales but we will get this done and we must because how can we look ourselves in the mirror and not deal with this?’
He described social care as ‘exceptionally important’ and said it has ‘extraordinarily significant impacts’ on people’s lives.
He added: ‘But somehow social care is still pretty invisible.’
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