Lords to debate Economic Affairs Committee’s social care report
Thursday 28 January 2021
At 2.30pm today members of the House of Lords will debate the Economic Affairs Committee’s report, ‘Social care funding: time to end a national scandal’, which was published in July 2019.
The report’s main conclusions were that £8 billion should be spent immediately by the Government to restore the quality of and access to adult social care in England to acceptable levels. It should then introduce free personal care, funded through general taxation, over a period of five years.
The debate will be held in Grand Committee and opened by the committee’s Chair, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean.
The debate can be watched live on Parliament TV and a transcript will be available approximately three hours from the start of the debate on Hansard.
Lord Bethell of Romford will respond on behalf of the Government.
Speaking ahead of the debate, the committee’s Chair, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, said:
“When our Committee published its report we appealed to the Government to act immediately to ensure that the million or so adults who don’t receive, but need social care, receive it. 18 months on we are still waiting for the Government’s response to our report.
“We appeal again to the Government to provide the funding that is needed to return quality and access in the system to an acceptable standard. Care workers who have been on the frontline of the pandemic, should have their sacrifices recognised with better pay and conditions. And a plan for a major generational reform of the system must be formulated now.”
