Dementia support requires greater funding from health and care levy
29 October 2021
The Committee’s report into dementia care criticises the Government plans for the health and care levy. In the Committee’s view, the levy provides insufficient funding for social care over the next three years and fails to spell out how the sector will benefit from the levy after that.
- Read the full report (HTML)
- Read the report's summary
- Read the conclusions and recommendations
- Read the full report (PDF)
- Find all publications related to this inquiry, including oral and written evidence
The inquiry findings
During its inquiry the Committee heard evidence that currently 200,000 people with moderate and severe dementia in England do not get any kind of funded or professional support.
Projections show an increase in the number of people who will be living with dementia and increased costs of dementia care. The number of older people living with dementia in England will increase to around 1.35 million by 2040 and the total cost of dementia care is projected to reach £80.4 billion by 2040, up from £29.5 billion in 2019 when nearly half of this spending went on social care (45.8%).
The report key recommendations
The Committee is disappointed the Government has not provided greater funding for social care in the immediate future. It also urges Ministers to accept its recommendation from a previous report for a £7 annual billion increase in funding for social care by 2023-24 as a starting point.
The Committee also recommend that the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England and Improvement use the White Paper to develop clear guidance on the care and support those living with dementia and their carers should expect to receive, from diagnosis through to lifelong post-diagnostic support.
The report concludes that the Government’s Health and Care Bill must consider the vital role of unpaid carers in supporting people with dementia and give them the opportunity to contribute to any plans for reform.
Chair’s comment
The Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, said:
“People living with dementia face catastrophic costs for social care but even though the new levy is welcome, their families will continue to remain unprotected until 2023 at the earliest.
“The extra funding announced in the Budget for local authorities is welcome but it’s not clear how much will be set aside to support the growing costs of providing social care.
“Fundamental reform of the social care system must be tackled by the Government in its promised White Paper and until we see warm words turned into action, families living with dementia will continue to face an unbearable situation.”
Further information
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