Parties fall in with Wanless thinking

All three main political parties recognise the current funding system for adult social care is not sustainable, the author of a landmark prospectus for change said this week.

Derek Wanless told a King’s Fund debate on his report, which was published in March, there was a political consensus that the means-tested system had to be reformed, and the overall level of spending would have to rise in the long-term.

Wanless’s report called for spending increases and a system in which all service users would receive a minimum level of free care which they would top up with state assistance.

However, Sarah Pickup, the Association of Directors of Social Services’ lead on carers, warned that councils faced an immediate funding crisis.

Despite the representations of Wanless and others, the government was failing to respond to calls for greater spending, she added.

 

 

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