“The Challenges Facing Social Care are bigger than one party”: Hft calls for cross-party action following publication of committee report
Hft, a national charity that supports adults with learning disabilities, has reacted to the publication of a joint report out today (27th June) by the Housing, Communities and Local Government and Health and Social Care Committees on the future of adult social care.
The charity had previously submitted written evidence as part of the Committees’ consultation process. Hft raised concerns over funding pressures facing the learning disability sector, and the lack of clarity surrounding the role of learning disabilities in the government’s parallel body of work on adult social care.
Billy Davis, Public Affairs and Policy Manager at Hft, commented: “This is an important report which has been published at a critical time for social care. Learning disabilities accounts for over one third of adult social care spend in England, so it is disappointing that the report only mentions the sector in a passing reference. It seems something of a missed opportunity for the Committees not to explore adult social care in its entirety.
“That being said, Hft shared the report’s concern over the Green Paper fragmenting social care into elderly care and working age adults. In our response to the consultation, we called for closer alignment between the parallel body of work and the green paper. We welcome the fact that this report calls for greater clarity around the parallel body of work, and for increased inclusion of support for working-age adults within the green paper.
“The challenges facing social care are bigger than one political party and will take longer than one parliamentary term to achieve. In our view, the time for consultation is over. Urgent and decisive action is now needed to save a sector which CQC describes as ‘at a tipping point’.
“We therefore echo the report’s call for cross-party consensus on social care reform, and we look forward to working with both the government and opposition parties in creating the brightest possible future for adults with learning disabilities.”
