PUT OUR NEEDY ELDERLY FIRST!
With council tax set to rise £160 to plug social care black hole, MPs demand foreign aid billions are switched so we...
THE £12billion foreign aid budget should be used to tackle the crisis in social care, MPs said last night.
Their call to put Britain’s elderly first came amid warnings that the system supporting the vulnerable was close to ‘toppling over’.
And yesterday Chancellor Philip Hammond suggested for the first time there would be a review of the controversial target of spending 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid.
ministers are also considering allowing rises of up to £160 in council tax over the next two years, with much of the money going to fund social care.
But Mps said this would not solve the problem and diverting cash from the foreign aid budget instead could solve the crisis at a stroke. Baroness Altmann, a former pensions minister, demanded
action as well, saying: ‘The needs of our vulnerable elderly must come first before prioritising the needs of people elsewhere.
‘It is important for us to be a global leader in helping poverty-stricken and Third World countries – but what we mustn’t forget is that we have the equivalent of poverty-stricken and Third World social care here.’
Council bosses say they need an extra £1.3billion to fund the care sector, which faces a rapidly ageing population, wage rises and budget cuts. Tory backbenchers point out this amount is equal to the slice of the £1 billion aid budget that Britain sends to Brussels to spend on our behalf.
Shipley MP Philip Davies said: ‘Charity begins at home and we should make sure we are spending enough on social care for our vulnerable older and disabled constituents before we send money abroad – especially when so much of that is wasted.’
Wellingborough MP Peter Bone added: ‘It would seem very sensible to me to use some of the overseas aid money to look after needy people in this country.’
Thousands of older people are left stuck in hospital beds because town halls cannot provide support in the community. This bed blocking means operations are being delayed for younger people. Yesterday, it emerged that Mrs May is preparing to allow town halls to hike council bills by up to £80 next year to help fund the social care system. A similar rise could follow the year after under plans to allow councils to bring forward increases in the social care precept. Mr Hammond made his remarks on the foreign aid target in response to a question from the Tory MP Chris Philp, who asked him to look again at the 0.7 per cent ringfence. Mr Philp pointed out the EU average spending on overseas aid is 0.45 per cent of GDP.
The Chancellor replied that ‘later on in the parliament we will have a spending review’. He said this would cover ‘tax commitments, spending commitments, ringfences and so on’.
Government sources played down the idea that the 0.7 per cent target championed by David Cameron could be scrapped altogether.
Among victims of the care crisis was Jane Cummings, a grandmother who had helpers visit her home in Rhyl, North Wales. She was rushed to intensive care after being made ill by out-of-date food neglectfully left in her fridge.
The 8 -year-old spent 1 weeks in hospital suffering from hallucinations, a low level of oxygen and a kidney infection. Her granddaughter Charlotte, 5, from Castleford in West Yorkshire, said: ‘Our faith in home care was totally shot. It was terrible to see her so unwell.’ Comment & Damian Thompson – Page 14