Hft welcomes new Minister of State for Care
Hft, a national charity that supports adults with learning disabilities, has warmly welcomed Caroline Dinenage’s appointment as Minister of State for Care at the Department for Health and Social Care.
Her responsibilities include the overseeing of all aspects of adult social care, including disabilities, dementia, and loneliness.
During the 2017 General Election, the charity had campaigned for the reinstatement of a Minister of State for Social Care, which it argued was necessary to help the Government properly address the challenges facing the social care sector.
Billy Davis, Public Affairs and Policy Manager, commented: “This is a very welcome development. Since the General Election, Hft has made the case for the Minister of State for Social Care to be reinstated, and so we are delighted that the government has listened, and given social care the seniority that the portfolio deserves.
“It is particularly heartening that the Government has acknowledged that this promotion has been made to ‘reflect the expanded portfolio’ of the Department of Health and Social Care following the reshuffle. We argued that giving social care to a Parliamentary Under-Secretary was a demotion, and we are pleased that this has been rectified.
“However, it should also be noted that Caroline is now the fourth Minister to hold the social care portfolio in three years. We hope that the promotion of social care back to a more senior level will also be coupled with a period of stability, to allow the Minister time to familiarise herself with the sector, and the scale of the challenges it is facing.
“We look forward to working with Caroline to meet the challenges facing the learning disability sector together, and to deliver sustainable, positive change both for providers, and those vulnerable adults supported by them.”
