Joint Event by the APPGs for Adult Social Care, Longevity & Devolution – ‘The Reform of Social Care – Creating a Sustainable Future For Social Care’ - 28th September 2020

Overview

This joint event by the APPGs discussed the importance of creating a sustainable future as part of the reform of social care. The event was Chaired by Helen Hayes MP, the Co-Chair of the APPG for Adult Social Care.

The event discussed the importance of the reform of adult social care in the context of Covid-19 with a focus on the following issues:

  • Sustainable Funding

  • Investment in the Workforce

  • Better outcomes for people who rely on social care

  • Preventative & Public Health

The event consisted of contributions from the Co-Chairs of the respective APPGs and representatives from the organisations which support those APPGs. Following these contributions the event opened up to contributions from those who attended.

Panellists:

  • Helen Hayes MP – Co-Chair APPG Adult Social Care

  • The Rt. Hon. Damian Green MP – Chair APPG Longevity

  • Baroness Eaton – Vice Chair APPG Devolution

  • Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE DL – Officer APPG Adult Social Care

  • Vic Rayner – Co-Chair of the Working Group of the APPG on Adult Social Care & Executive Director of the National Care Forum (NCF)

  • Cllr Ian Hudspeth - Leader Oxfordshire County Council & Chairman of the LGA’s Wellbeing Board

  • Tina Woods - Founder & CEO of Longevity International

Discussion Summary

  • Panellists noted that the context of Covid-19 presented a unique opportunity to address longstanding issues in the social care system, particularly relating to a long-term funding solution and ensuring recognition of the social care workforce.

    • The importance of taking a long-term, pan-stakeholder approach that looked beyond the immediate situation and over a multi-decade period was discussed by a number of participants.

  • The gap in funding between social care demand and what services were available was highlighted as an issue that would only increase in significance in the coming years.

    • Some contributions expressed support for looking at where responsibility for the funding of social care should be. The importance of this in securing a stable future for devolved government was reiterated by a number of panellists.

    • There would be a need to appropriately balance the delivery of social care between national and devolved government, at various levels. Participants discussed the need for a national solution that appropriately made use of the ability of devolved/local government to better deliver services in particular contexts.

    • However, it was noted that whichever of the various models for funding social care were adopted it also had to consider generational fairness. Ensuring that the financial burden of a new social care funding solution did not fall in its entirety on the current working age population was identified as a priority.

  • Panellists discussed the role of social care in communities, as both an economic contributor, a vehicle of innovation and a social service. Recognising and building these contributions would be vital to securing a sustainable future for social care.

    • Supporting the social care workforce emerged as a key theme of the discussion.

    • The gap between the demand for social care workers and the overall number of people in the workforce was highlighted. There would be increasing demand for care and support staff in future years. Supporting the workforce and increasing recruitment and retention would be crucial in ensuring a stable future for social care.

    • Ensuring parity of esteem with the healthcare workforce would be a vital recognition of the workforce’s contribution to society, particularly in the context of Covid-19. This would further contribute to ensuring that enough people were entering the social care workforce to meet the rising demand.

    • Panellists noted that there had been positive progress in this area, particularly through the Covid-19 pandemic, but further action was needed in order to fully realise parity of esteem.

    • Polling had indicated that there was a perception amongst the general public that care and support staff were underappreciated.

  • The long-term impact of poor public health was discussed, particularly in relation to longevity and its impact on healthy life expectancy. This would be a significant issue to address in order to support the social care system in the future.

    • In the context of the Government’s closure of Public Health England, this would be a key area where Government action was feasible in the near future to achieve positive results for the social care system.

    • It was suggested that a new agency with clear responsibilities for prevention, rather than treatment, would increase the overall level of public health and individual’s health resilience, therefore improving the ability for people to live comfortable, independent lives for longer.

  • Ensuring that disabled people were appropriately included in future plans for the reform of social care was highlighted as a key priority.

    • Panellists discussed the importance of supporting working-age disabled people, both inside and outside of work settings.

    • The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated shielding on disabled people was reiterated.

  • A key focus of discussion was on the Longevity APPG’s recent report ‘The Health of the Nation’, which suggested methods on how to achieve the Government’s Manifesto commitment to increase healthy life expectancy by five years while minimising health inequalities.

    • Panellists set out further details regarding a key recommendation of the report, the Business Coalition for Healthier Longer Lives. This was being established as a business-led venture with its own governance and funding structure.

  • The importance of ensuring that all future legislation with regards to social care issues received appropriate parliamentary attention and scrutiny was discussed by parliamentary attendees.

  • It was noted that future proposals to develop a sustainable future for social care must include all relevant stakeholders and ensure that everyone impacted by the social care system had a voice in its future.

    • This was particularly noted in regards to people who receive Direct Payments and unpaid carers.