CAMPAIGNERS are calling on the Chancellor to stop thinking about tax cuts and start thinking about caring for the oldest and most vulnerable.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, the Independent Care Group says it is time to properly fund social care and help those who need support.
ICG chair Mike Padgham said: “Nobody wants to pay too much tax, but there is a tipping point where we have to stop looking at tax cuts and lowering public spending and start thinking about those vulnerable people who aren’t getting the care they need.
“We know we are in an election year but for once the Government should concentrate on investing in services people need rather than any short-term political gain from headline-grabbing tax cuts.
“The social care sector has suffered cut after cut to its funding over the past 30 years and now it is at the point where it is failing to support those who need it most.
“We call upon Jeremy Hunt to resist the temptation for tax cuts and instead look at enabling local authorities to invest in the local delivery of care to their most vulnerable people.
“He will probably not need reminding, but when Jeremy Hunt was chair of the Health and Social Care Committee he said social care needed an extra £7bn a year just to stand still. It is time to start delivering on that.”
Mike said local authorities, who commission care from providers, had seen their budgets cut savagely in the past three decades. This had meant they were commissioning less care and also squeezing down on the price they pay in fees to providers.
