This report summarises responses to the Government's Big Care Debate consultation on the proposals in the Green Paper Shaping the Future of Care Together.
- Download Shaping the future of care together: consultation response (PDF, 5140K)
- Building the National Care Service, White Paper
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Responsestoconsultations/DH_114921
PDF version The Local Government Association (LGA) welcomes the publication of the Care and Support Green Paper (CSGP). The LGA has long called for reform of our adult social care and support system, and has been involved in a range of activities over the last 12 months to raise the profile of the debate. The LGA proposes that two related issues are central to the reform of care and support.
First, to ensure that the increasing demand is met as our population changes over the coming years, adult social care needs additional funding. And second, as that funding becomes available, the care system must balance national consistency and local flexibility. To realise the public’s aspiration for fairness and personal choice in adult care, the LGA calls for a national system of care and support that is locally expressed. This would see clear national standards for assessment and entitlement sit alongside local decisions on the services to meet need, and how to pay for and deliver them.
These local decisions would be informed by a council’s local knowledge of the area and unique ability to design efficient local public services to meet a wide range of local needs. Such flexibility will be key to the delivery of the adult social transformation agenda, with its emphasis on outcomes for individuals. This local offer will cross the boundaries of care, health, housing, leisure, transport and will also include the delicate balance of people’s own resources, community support and the huge personal and financial contribution of carers.
The LGA believes fair funding is crucial to a successfully reformed system of care and support, and that funding options should be subject to wider public debate. Whichever option is adopted, it must bring substantial additional funding for the care and support system. The LGA urges the government to publish its financial modelling of the funding options as soon as possible. Without this information, it argues, it is difficult to assess the accuracy of the government’s estimation of a £6 billion shortfall for adult care by 2020, and the ability of the different funding models to meet this gap.
The LGA has long called for reform of our adult social care and support system and its links with promoting independence, choice and control. Over the last 12 months in particular, the LGA has been involved in a range of activities to raise the profile of the reform debate and the role of councils in adult social care.
Overview of LGA activity – on the LGA website
LGA consultation response in full – on the LGA website
On 14 July 2009 the Government launched the Green Paper 'Shaping the future of care together'. The aim of this consultation process was to engage with the public and key stakeholders about how the existing social care and support system can meet the challenges of the future. The Green Paper proposes creating a 'National Care Service' which will include standardised assessment processes which are portable across England, and could involve a more standardised approach to setting eligibility thresholds and charging for care.
The RCN submitted its response to the green paper on 13 November after consulting widely with its members, many of whom work at the interface between health and social care.
The College looks forward to working with Government to address the many challenges to ensure that England has a social care and support system that is fit for the 21st century. Our members hope to see early in the New Year an innovative white paper that creates a fair and sustainable funding system for adult social care and support.
Read the RCN's response to the consultation 'Shaping the future of care together' (PDF 78.6KB).
http://www.rcn.org.uk/aboutus/policy/consultations/consultation_responses
http://policy.helptheaged.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B6AB41D0-BCD3-493D-829C-47...
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/legal-and-policy/consultation-respons...
http://www.mind.org.uk/campaigns_and_issues/report_and_resources/2418_sh...
http://www.in-control.org.uk/greenpaperresponse
http://www.meassociation.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl...
http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/green-paper-response-future-care
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/campaigns/social_policy/consultat...
http://www.actuaries.org.uk/research-and-resources/documents/h-m-governm...
http://www.navca.org.uk/news/sfcresponse.htm
http://www.counselandcare.org.uk/assets/library/documents/Shaping_the_Fu...
http://alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/download_info.php?fileID=790
http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/HealthAndAdultServices/consultationsand...
http://www.scope.org.uk/help-and-information/publications/shaping-future...
On 20 November the Commission submitted its formal response to the Department of Health consultation - 'Shaping the Future of Care Together - Adult Social Care Green Paper', which ran from July to November 2009.
Introduction
The Commission welcomes the opportunity to respond to this important consultation on the future of the adult social care system. Care and support is at the heart of our mission of:
The Commission congratulates the Government for moving the agenda forward. The current system is unsustainable and is already failing thousands of the most marginalised and excluded members of society. Some fundamentally hard decisions need to be made to achieve long-term solutions, and they can only be made through debate and consensus.
Download our response in full (Word).
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/legislative-framework/consultation-re...