Writing in his weekly column for the West Sussex newspapers this week, Arundel and South Downs MP Andrew Griffith has renewed his call for meaningful reform of the social care system, warning that families cannot afford more years of uncertainty while waiting for another review.
Mr Griffith said social care had been one of the issues he had written about most frequently, both as a Member of Parliament helping desperate families and carers navigate the system, and through his own family's direct experience of social care.
He said West Sussex sits on the front line of the debate, with a rapidly ageing population, a high cost of living and a greater-than-average number of people who, through choice or the way the system operates, fund their own care.
Commenting on the Prime Minister's recent announcement on social care, Mr Griffith said he remained unconvinced that it provided the answers families were looking for.
Andrew Griffith MP said:
"I was interested to hear what the Prime Minister had to say about social care last week. Having listened carefully, beyond the Casey Review now reporting in 2027 rather than the deliberately slow timetable of 2028, I am none the wiser.
"I certainly support the idea of care workers having greater opportunities for career progression and better pay. It is shocking that they are, on average, paid less than equivalent roles in the NHS when their work is, in many ways, more responsible and more challenging.
"However, improving pay without reducing the volume of care required means more money must come into the system, and the Prime Minister was evasive about how that would be achieved. The answer cannot simply be to ask the minority of taxpayers to pay even more for everyone else's care. Just as with defence, many would argue that providing a respectable standard of care in old age, and for those living with profound disabilities, should be a higher priority than welfare entitlements for millions of people who may never have worked."
Mr Griffith said Conservatives remained ready to work with anyone on serious proposals to reform social care.
He pointed out that, before the last general election, there had been broad cross-party agreement to implement many of the recommendations of the independent committee chaired by Sir Andrew Dilnot, which would have gone a long way towards capping what has been described as "life's cruel lottery" – a system under which families caring for relatives with dementia or long-term care needs can see a lifetime of savings and assets exhausted before the state steps in to provide support.
