The pandemic has been an important turning point for social care, putting the incredible work the sector delivers day in and day out into the spotlight and highlighting the urgent need for change.
That is why we have published a plan to reform adult social care that will make the system fairer for everyone, backed by £1.7 billion to give those who receive care – as well as their families and carers – greater choice, control and support to lead an independent life with fair, tailored and accessible care.
This will help pensioners and working age adults live independently at home for longer – while ensuring that the health and care systems work hand in hand so that people can always get the help they want.
Our ten-year plan for Adult Social Care includes:
- £500 million investment into our adult social care workforce, so they have the opportunity to progress in their careers while providing an even better standard of care. This will help recognise their valued skills and prioritise their wellbeing.
- £300 million Housing Transformation Fund, to help local authorities increase the range and amount of new supported housing, providing more choice, care and support. This is alongside a new practical service to make repairs and changes in peoples’ homes to help them remain safe and stay with their families.
- £150 million to drive new technology and digitisation across social care, to support independent living and improve the quality of care as well as making the system more efficient. This will include acoustic sensors to help residents sleep uninterrupted and allow carers to monitor them safely, as well as improved digital care records to make sure all those responsible for their care have the latest up-to-date details.
- £70 million to help local authorities better plan and develop the support and care options available, in addition to increasing the upper limit of the Disabled Facilities Grant for home adaptations such as stairlifts, wetrooms and home technologies to allow people to live where they want to and increase the options for care.
- £30 million to help local areas innovate with new ways to deliver social care, so individuals have better personalised care.
- £25 million to kickstart a change in the services provided to support unpaid carers, and their availability across the country, to boost support and increase access to respite services giving them much needed support and a break.
- A new national website, to provide easily accessible information for the public on social care and at least £5 million to pilot new ways to help people understand and access the care and support available.
This is part of our broader plan to reform social care:
- £3.6 billion to cap the cost of care, ending the unpredictable and catastrophic care costs faced by thousands: -
- Introducing an £86,000 cap on the amount people have to pay for care over the course of their lives. This cap will apply equally to everyone, be intuitive and easy to understand and will help prevent against unlimited and catastrophic costs, enabling people to plan ahead with confidence.
- Covering all care costs for anyone with assets with under £20,000 from October 2023.
- Increasing the threshold above which people must meet the full cost of their care to £100,000. This is more than four times the current limit of £23,250, is more generous than what was originally proposed in 2015 and will help make high quality care affordable.
- Setting a daily living costs limit of £200 per week. This limit is more generous than what was originally proposed in 2015 and is designed to make sure that people get to keep more of their income and assets.
- Bringing forward an Integration White Paper, setting out how health and care can work better as one. It will see us embrace new ways of sharing records and delivering digital services together, for example. It will also see us embrace new approaches to the workforce – not only helping staff move from sector to sector, but also to promote more joint roles across health and social care.
- Integrating health and care services through our Health and Care Bill, to bring the NHS and local government coming together to provide better joined up services and wraparound care, plan health and care services around their patients’ needs, and quickly implement innovative solutions to problems which would normally take years to fix, including moving services out of hospitals and into the community, focusing on preventative healthcare.