Celebrating work in the care sector as minister reports on delayed Green Paper

A very enjoyable evening yesterday at the National Care Association Summer Reception hosted by Howdens Insurance brokers. We hear a lot of negativity around care services, so it was lovely to spend an evening celebrating all the incredible work that is performed in the care sector.

We heard an interesting address by Caroline Dineage, Minister of State for Health, including a mention of the long-delayed Green Paper on social care – which isn’t going to be published any time soon. The Green Paper is intended to explore the issue of how social care is funded by recipients and consider a range of proposals including a more generous means test, a cap on lifetime care charges and tac-free withdrawals from pension pots. When it is finally published, it will simply set out a range of recommendations for further consultation so any reforms to the current system will be even further down the line. During her address, the Minister also repeated her previous words of caution that, when published, the Green Paper will not solve all the challenges of social care.

We also managed to bend the ear of James Morris MP, who has a keen interest in social care and mental health, over the role of compensation in the care industry. Under discussion was the extent to which adult children should be entitled to compensation for their parent’s experiences in care.

We will continue to provide updates on the Green Paper when we have further information. If you would like to discuss this or any other issue covered in our blogs, please do not hesitate to get in touch.