Sorry legacy...five PMs have failed to fix social care
SOCIAL care reform has been kicked into the long grass by successive governments for the last quarter of a century.
In 1997 new Prime Minister Tony Blair told the Labour party conference: “I don’t want my children brought up in a country where the only way pensioners can get long-term care is by selling their home.”
Unfortunately, Mr Blair’s children are now raising his grandchildren in a nation where older people who need care have to sell their home to pay for it.
After his speech, Mr Blair set up a Royal Commission on long-term care for the elderly under Professor Sir Stuart Sutherland.
In 1999 The Sutherland Commission argued for free personal care funded by general taxation and a more generous means test but in July 2000, the Labour Government rejected the findings of its own commission.
Gordon Brown also failed to act. But the new Tory-Lib Dem Government raised hopes of a breakthrough in 2010 when it asked Sir Andrew Dilnot to lead a cross-party commission on Funding for Care and Support.
His proposals were approved by the Queen in 2015. But a lack of political support from the then-Prime Minister David Cameron following the 2015 General Election led to further delays.
A series of reviews have come and gone – along with Theresa May – and the Daily Express has long campaigned for fair and proper system. Now, a new policy is, allegedly, about to be unveiled.
But as Sir Andrew noted: “The major obstacle is almost always the money and a lack of strong support from the Treasury and PM.”