Independent Age response to Age UK’s Care in Crisis report

Independent Age response to Age UK's Care in Crisis report

Independent Age Chief Executive, Janet Morrison, said:

“These findings are just further evidence of how woefully underfunded social care is. We were already aware there was a reduction in the number of people who received local authority-brokered care but these new findings are deeply worrying. While the Care Bill represents great progress and the government's proposals to set a 'cap' on the amount an individual can pay, should make thousands more people eligible for financial support from their council, it is still crucial that the government takes its responsibilities seriously and realistically funds social care.

“We have already seen evidence of local authorities coming under great financial pressure. It’s this that has led to 15-minute home care visits and tighter rules on eligibility for council support. While the Care in Crisis report reveals an increase in the number of adults getting residential care, we worry that for many of these adults, there has also been an increase in the practice that sees their family members being required to ‘top-up’ care home fees for residential care which should be free. As the ageing population grows, this will only get worse so Independent Age will continue to press the government to fund social care properly.”