The Future for Families & Adult Social Care: What can we learn from the first 3 weeks of the new Government?

It is now three weeks since David Cameron became Prime Minister.  During this time we have seen the publication of the Government’s Coalition Agreement, the announcement of £6.2 billion of spending cuts and the Queen’s Speech, setting out the proposed legislative programme for the next 18 months.  The focus has inevitably been on the plans to reduce the budget deficit, alongside reforms to the political system, schools and welfare.  However, both of Opportunity Links’ current priority areas - families and adult social care - have also received some attention.

The Liberal Democrat Paul Burstow has been appointed as a Minister within the Department of Health, with specific responsiblity for social care.  He has stated that “urgent reform of the social care system is at the top of our agenda” - a comment reinforced by the confirmation within the Queen’s Speech that a Commission on long-term care will be established and report within a year.  In addition, the Coalition Agreement sets out the Government’s intention to support elderly people to live at home for longer, re-establish the link between earnings and the state pension, extend the rollout of personal budgets and priorise dementia research - all signs that the Government recognises the urgent need to address the issues raised by our ageing population.  Realistically, we can not expect social care to be immune to spending cuts. However, with reports also emerging that the final year of the Social Care Reform Grant will remain ringfenced (although possibly reduced) it appears that this area at least remains firmly on the Government’s agenda. 

The situation is less clear for families.  The change from the Department for Children, Schools and Families to the Department for Education could be read as a sign that families will have a lower priority under the new regime - particularly when coupled with the Secretary of State, Michael Gove’s, comment that the Department will refocus on “its core purpose of supporting teaching and learning”. 

However, this is not an area which has been abandonned completely.  We have both a Minister for Children and Families (Sarah Teather - interestingly also a Liberal Democrat) and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Tim Loughton).  Equally, a chapter of the Coalition Agreement is dedicated to families and children.  This sets out a commitment to keep the goal to end child poverty by 2020, retain both Sure Start and tax credits (although with some reshaping) and support the provision of free nursery care.  In addition, a system of flexible parental leave may be introduced and greater access rights for non-resident parents and grandparents are to be explored.  Whilst this may not represent the levels of investment we have seen over the last decade, it does at least avoid the full-scale cuts of initiatives such as Sure Start and tax credits that had been predicted a year or so ago.

However, whilst we can be tentatively positive about these initial signs, it is the detail that will be important.  The decisions about which aspects of support for families and social care will be prioritised, which programmes discontinued, which agencies scrapped and which grants cut should emerge over coming weeks and months.  With first an emergency budget on 22 June and then the Comprehensive Spending Review in the autumn, there is still much left to confirm about the future for families and adult social care under this Government.