The Government is washing its hands of responsibility for taking tough decisions about the social care timebomb that not only affects many people now, but that will bear down on nearly all of us in the years ahead, says Bristol South Labour MP Karin Smyth.
She says her own party needs to seriously engage with and address the pervading fear that so many people live with: that they will end a lifetime of contributions to our society “in the silent misery of an inadequate social care system”.
Reflecting on The Care Act of 2014, which outlined how care and support needs should be met, the Labour MP says: “Whilst most of the Act came into force in April 2015, a cap on the costs of care for individuals, and more generous support for homeowners receiving residential care, which would have expanded the reach of adult social care, was due to begin in April 2016. Then news that Ministers had shelved these until April 2020.”
She highlights that 11% of women in Bristol provide unpaid care, according to census figures.
“But for the Tories, taking responsibility is easier avoided, so just as councils were gearing up for landmark change, the long grass beckoned and the ball was booted well and truly into it,” she says.
“Determined and desperate to avoid making decisions, Ministers shoved this key issue in the ‘too-difficult’ pile, without a thought of the unacceptable burden it will place on carers.”
The comments are made in a new article for Huffington Post which you can read in full here.