Today’s Spending Review provides welcome investment in children’s social care, SEND, the NHS and social housing but instils very little confidence that adult social care will ever be seen as the essential public service it is.
There's a great deal of good within the Mental Health Bill currently going through Parliament, but more could be done to stop autistic people and people with a learning disability from being detained in long stay settings.
The House of Lords supported an amendment to exempt charities from the unfunded costs of increased ENICs, but today the Commons passed the Bill without the exemption, leaving frontline care and support services in a precarious position.
Following the House of Lords support for an exemption for health and social care providers from Employer National Insurance Contribution increases, VODG calls on all MPs to add their support to protect essential local services.
The Government's provisional local government settlement puts more money into social care, but not enough to fund the impact of national insurance and wage increases in the Autumn Budget, threatening the future of frontline services.
New analysis by Cordis Bright commissioned by VODG finds changes to National Insurance Contributions will result in devastating service cuts as disability charities face £266 million shortfall.
The ten care and support membership bodies have published the results of a member survey demonstrating the terrible consequences of the Budget, for the many hundreds of thousands of adults who every day rely on good quality social care.
VODG warns that the scheduled rise in employers’ national insurance contributions is going to have catastrophic consequences for state-funded disability services next year.
VODG welcomes the introduction of the Mental Health Act and its role in reducing the number of autistic people and people with a learning disability detained in long stay units.
‘Despite the best efforts of providers and the broad approaches they have taken to address workforce shortages, a sustainable solution will not be possible until local authorities are able to fully cover the true costs of social care support.'
The findings of the Darzi Review in to the NHS reflect the devastating inequalities experienced by disabled people. For too long disabled people, autistic people and people with a learning disability have experienced a second-class service. This must be urgently addressed.
