Copied from the AC Facebook page in case anyone missed it.

elnafinn

Thank you Beat me to it!

Probably will not get much response from the forum, but we do not give up do we?

Elna x 8)

barbara12

Thank you for the link I have signed it...and copied the template for my MP..

elnafinn

Thank you Barbara x

Love
Elna x

elnafinn

Unsure wrote:

Never give up me.

Nor me, not yet anyway, not without a fight.

Elna x

salamander

I've had a look at this and it is unclear what exactly is being sent. I know my MP quite well so don't want to send him something I don't even understand myself. What exactly are they asking for?

Starburst

salamander once you enter your details, this letter comes up (you can edit it if you wish)

The care and support system in England is in crisis. Older and disabled people, who rely on care to live their lives with dignity, and their carers are being let down by a care system that is not fit for purpose.

I am writing to urge you to take the opportunity with the upcoming Spending Review to ensure that the Draft Care and Support Bill is adequately funded, as recommended by the recent report from the group of cross-party MPs and Peers on the Joint Pre-Legislative Scrutiny Committee. Failing to do so, will put the proposals the Government has championed to reform the care and support system at risk of falling at the first hurdle. Furthermore, people will continue to live without the care and support they need, without dignity and without aspirations for the future.

The Government has already taken a number of steps to reform the social care system with the publication of the Draft Care and Support Bill in 2012, and most recently with the Chancellor’s Budget announcement of the introduction of a capped cost model in 2016. Your decision to prioritise the implementation of the Dilnot Cap will provide much needed protection for those who face losing everything in the lottery of catastrophic care costs.

However, it is crucial that the Government does not treat the cap announcement as the end of the story on social care funding. There is strong evidence showing the existing gaps in the current system, with 800,000 older people not getting the care and support they need (Age UK), and thousands of disabled people are victims of tightening eligibility (‘The Other Care Crisis’ report). Furthermore, almost 1.3 million people provide more than 50 hours of unpaid care a week, impacting on their own health and well being and ability to work (2011 Census Data).

I urge you to help those older and disabled people who are currently missing out on the care they need by ensuring the care and support system is adequately funded in the upcoming Spending Review.

Starburst

Thank you for sharing this on here. I follow AC on facebook but somehow missed this. As a student social worker, this is something I feel very strongly about, so I'm glad I saw this.

salamander

Thanks Starburst. I'll have a go. It's a funny one as my council has protected social care budget .

salamander

done

bubbadog

Thank you for posting this, I have filled it in and sent it and also copied it so I can email it to my sister & Niece who both work as carers for the elderly & disabled. I'm sure if it not already her employers will be interested in signing this.

tkachev

Done. I wouldn't have seen this if not posted on here Elna


Elizabeth x

elnafinn

Unsure posted it - she beat me to it this time, Elizabeth

Elna x

lily

Hi

Just sent it
Lily

elnafinn

Thank you, Lily

Elna x

premierscfc04

Thanks Unsure.

Done, I'm sure my local MP will say 'not him again' lol

DebbieT

This is brilliant, thank you!!

I have sent both emails & I'm going to post the link in my Fibromyalgia support groups too.x

Starburst

I got a reply from my MP!

Dear ******,

Thank you for contacting me about the draft Care and Support Bill.

The draft Bill would, for the first time, place an explicit duty on local authorities to promote a diverse, high quality and sustainable local market for care and support that meets the needs of local people. Provisions in the draft Bill would significantly benefit those with caring responsibilities. It would simplify the process of assessments and, for the first time, place a duty on councils to meet a carer’s eligible needs for support. There would be a new resource, rising to £175 million per year, to ensure that that is implemented.


The Government is committed to introducing a national minimum eligibility threshold for adult care and support. Subject to the passage of legislation, this will be introduced from April 2015. The level at which the eligibility threshold is set must match the overall resource allocated to adult care and support. It must therefore be determined as part of the Spending Review. The Government will set out its proposal for the national minimum eligibility threshold as soon as practicable after it has considered the outcome of the 2015 – 2016 Spending Review, which will be announced on 26th June. It may reassure you to know that local authorities will be free to set their eligibility threshold at a more generous level but cannot tighten them beyond the national minimum threshold.

Departmental spending plans for 2015-16 will be set at the Spending Review. The Government was aware that the last Spending Review provided local government with a challenging settlement. This is why it took the decision to prioritise adult care and support, and provide extra funding for local authorities to help in maintaining access to services. Since then it has provided local authorities with additional resources for care and support. However, it is ultimately for local authorities to choose how best to use their available funding.

However, the Government cannot improve the care and support system just by putting ever more money into the system. Already there are examples of local authorities redesigning services to find more efficient ways of working. Many local authorities are innovating and achieving much greater integration between health and care services, thereby improving care for people.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Kind regards,

James Clappison MP
Member of Parliament for Hertsmere

lily

Good afternoon

I got a letter back from my MP about this today and this is what he said.

Thank you for contacting me with regards social care reform. There is much that needs to be done to reform social care and support for older people in this country.

Andy Burnham was successful in setting up cross party talks when Labour was in Government and he was Secretary of State for Health. These talks were undermined by, the then Health Spokesman Andrew Lansley and the Tory party when they pulled out of talks and pushed ahead with the negative and misleading "death tax" campaign. This is not an issue for negative and scare campaigns, it must be remembered that this is an issue that involves vulnerable people and that should be the paramount concern for all involved.

This is something that is the top of Labours agenda and we understand that as people live longer the needs of older people must be a key priority for us all. It has become apparent that there is a growing care crisis in Britain and the system has now reached breaking point. This Tory led Government has failed to protect budgets for social care as they promised in their spending review having overseen £1 billion of cuts from local council adult and social care budgets since coming to power. The cuts in local authority budgets announced in the Autumn Statement will only add further pressure on already stretched funding.

These cuts are hitting the eldery hard. Many councils are having to restrict the criteria they use to decide who qualifies for care. Charges are increasing for home help,daycare,residential care and meals on wheels. These charges vary across the country,so older and disabled people face a postcode lotterythrough no fault of their own. The Government is out of touch,and in denial about the impact their cuts are having.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg promised to legislate to reform social care in the second session of this Parliament. This is a promise they have broken. They failed to introduce a white paper on social care and have only introduced draft legislation in this years Queens speech, with no assurances they would legislate on this issue this Parliament.

The coalition mid-term review touched briefly on the issue of social care but the details and any plans for legislation are vague. Also the cap proposed by the coalition on socail care costs of £75,000 is much higher than the £35,000 suggested by the Dilnot report.

The Labour Party welcome the findings of the Dilnot report and its recommendations. Labour remain open to cross party talks on how to fund it, but it is unfortunate that the Coalition appear set to go agead with plans of a £75,000 cap instead. We are determined to keep the pressure on the Government on this crucial issue

Your sincerely
Rt Hon John F Speller MP
Warley