Carrying forward Dilnot's recommendations on care

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Social care for the future must not leave working-age disabled people behind, says Scope.

Throughout the debate that has been raging on the future of social care, it is often said that 'it is a matter for celebration that people are living longer'. Indeed, this is the first line of Professor Andrew Dilnot's ‘Fairer Care Funding' report.

But social care is not simply about providing care for older people. It is also about ensuring that the needs of all working-age UK adults with social care needs related to a disability are met in a fair, sustainable and high-quality way. A real success of Dilnot's report is the fact that he directly tackles the issues of providing care to working-age disabled people, and many of his conclusions should be welcomed.

The central recommendation of the report was that no-one should have to pay more than £35,000 towards the costs of social care over the course of their life, and once this cap has been reached, people should be eligible for full support.

For disabled people who are able to contribute toward their care costs this is a very welcome proposal.

However, despite the £2bn investment in social care, cuts to local budgets will mean that local authorities will look to raise the eligibility criteria for providing support. Without the 'ring fencing' of money and transparency – the Audit Commission is to be disbanded – there is no guarantee money will be spent on social care. The needs of all disabled people must be met, not simply those with critical needs.

Secondly, the report recommends that only people with more than £100,000 in assets, income or savings should pay for the costs of their social care. This is a huge improvement to the current situation where anyone with assets of more than £23,250 is eligible for the costs of their care.

This low threshold prevents many disabled people from saving and building assets, which in turn increases a disabled person's vulnerability in an emergency.

But most importantly, the report also recommends that people who enter adulthood with a care and support need should be eligible for free support, with disabled people over 40 being subjected to a sliding scale of contributions to care costs, up to the £35,000 cap, which would be reached at retirement age.

This proposal must be very warmly welcomed. It will mean that care provision is based on need rather than financial means, and will allow disabled people to save for the unforeseen additional costs of disability.

With the much-anticipated proposals about the future of social care laid down, it is now firmly with the government to find a way of including Dilnot's proposals in the even-more-anticipated social care white paper in the spring of 2012.

Scope will continue to work to ensure that the government doesn't forget working-age disabled people when designing a social care system fit for the future.

Throughout recess, ePolitix.com will be focusing on a different policy theme each week. This week we are featuring articles with a focus on health and social care.

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