"This is a national emergency" - Scope responds to council tax rise to fund Social Care
Scope responds to reports that counil tax will rise by six per cent to fund social care.
Mark Atkinson, chief executive at disability charity Scope, said:
“This is a national emergency - the care system is broken and in desperate need of further investment.
“Over 400,000 working age disabled people rely on social care, but Scope research shows that over half (55 per cent) say their care isn't supporting them to live independently.
“Disabled people have told us that they have resorted to sleeping in their wheelchairs, been unable to go to the toilet and have been forced to survive on one hot meal a day.
“It's deeply worrying that disabled people are becoming more isolated, cut off from society, slipping into crisis and ending up in A and E.
“Following the omission of social care in the Autumn Statement, the reported six per cent increase in council tax won’t go far enough and isn’t the long term solution needed to meet rising demand and costs.
“A country that works for everyone cannot be one that leaves thousands without the basic level of support they need to live an independent life.
“We are calling on the Government to urgently address the funding crisis in social care. Disabled people's lives depend on it.”
