Background
- What is care and support?
- How is it paid for?
- Why does this need to change?
- What is the role of the Welsh Assembly Government?
- Paying for care in Wales: the debate so far
What is care and support?
Care and support means getting help with things like personal care and day-to-day tasks, so that you can continue to live independently.
Some care is provided in residential or nursing homes, but most is provided in people’s own homes. Much care and support is provided informally by families, friends and neighbours.
How is it paid for?
This depends. Long term healthcare is paid for by the NHS. But social services have to be paid for, and your local council decides how much you have to pay based on your income and savings. If you have to go into residential care the council will also take into account the value of any property you own. There are also welfare benefits that people can claim.
Why does this need to change?
Because more of us are living longer and there are less people of working age who can contribute through their taxes. We also have higher expectations and demand services of a higher quality so that we can live more independent and fulfilled lives. This means that more money will be needed for care in the future.
What is the role of the Welsh Assembly Government?
The Welsh Assembly Government is responsible for the social care system in Wales, and social services are delivered at the local level by local authorities (councils). The Assembly Government has developed a distinctive strategy to improve social services in Wales, including new legislation to achieve more consistency in the charges made by local authorities for social services provided in the home, and to help carers.
The Assembly Government has set up a Commission on the future of social services in Wales, which will look at how social services might meet the challenges of the next decade. The Commission has been asked to consider the findings from this Green Paper consultation in making its recommendations to the Assembly Government about the future direction of social services in Wales. The Commission will report on these by autumn 2010.
Although the Assembly Government is responsible for social care in Wales, the levers to change the system for paying for care are largely the responsibility of the Westminster (UK) Government, and the existing legal framework covers England as well as Wales. The options set out in the Green Paper have been developed by the UK Government (which is running a separate consultation in England). The Welsh Assembly Government will need to consider the implications of these proposals for Wales, and express a clear preference from Wales about what the new system should look like. We want to try and reach a consensus across society on the preferred option, which is why your views are so important.
Paying for care in Wales: the debate so far
Last year, the Welsh Assembly Government held a major consultation and engagement programme on the general direction that reform should take. The results of that consultation have helped to shape the proposals set out in the Green Paper.
There were two events for stakeholders, in Cardiff and Llandudno. There were opportunities for the general public to respond by post, e-mail, or at events organised by local stakeholders. Reports of the stakeholder events and an analysis of the consultation responses can be found here [Initial Consultation - 2008 ].
The Assembly Government also established a Stakeholder Advisory Group to consider policy options for establishing fairer and more sustainable arrangements for paying for care. The Advisory Group included organisations and individuals representing a range of stakeholder interests, including disabled people, service users and carers, local government and health, care home owners, and older people. The Advisory Group’s report can be found here [Initial Consultation - 2008 ].
The Advisory Group drew up the following set of principles, which have been endorsed by the Assembly Government.
‘We believe that any new system of paying for care needs to:
- be explicit about human rights;
- support the individual at the time when she or he needs the support;
- ensure that decisions about provision of care are made on the needs of the individual and not on the individual’s financial resources or other assets or those of relatives;
- be simple, i.e. easily understood and operated by users and providers;
- promote social inclusion and independence;
- promote fair and equitable treatment;
- promote the participation and empowerment of the individual;
- ensure that providers are accountable and that those receiving the service can express views and complaints; and
- be affordable and financially sustainable, and demonstrate probity in the use of public funds.’
