Social care minister says people must consider looking after their parents, just as they do their children.

Topics covered: Ridouts professional advice

David Mowat, the minister with responsibility for social care, has told MPs that people must start thinking about how to look after their parents. As Mr Mowat spoke to the House of Commons’ select committee on Communities and Local Government, he called on people to: “Start thinking as a society how we deal with care of our own parents”.

Various MPs on the committee discussed the increasing demand for adult social care across the UK, and the revelation that the demand for adult social care has gone up by 46 per cent in the last five years (figures from Norfolk County Council). As the demand for social care increases, so has the number of care staff employed. Statistics have shown that the number of people working in care has gone up by about 150,000, since 2010.

Yesterday’s comments come after the Local Government Association (LGA) warned that councils are in danger of being in breach of the Care Act, unless the Government gives more money to fund social care. The LGA represents 370 councils in England and Wales. They’ve said the legislation that outlines how elderly and vulnerable people receive care and support, will fail unless the Government announces there will be more money.

Ahead of the Spring Budget, the LGA submitted to the Treasury that the underfunding of social care is making it impossible for local authorities to achieve their legal duties under the Care Act. They also submitted for the government to set out contingency plans to deal with major failures in the care provider market. As the lack of funding is causing some providers to hand back contracts to councils or stop overall trading.

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