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Shaping the future of care together
Executive summary
As promised in Building Britain’s Future, this Green Paper sets out the Government’s proposals for ways to reform the care and support system for adults in England.
We need to respond to the challenges that it will face in the future, to build a new National Care Service for everybody.
During 2008, the Government ran a six-month engagement process with the public, people who use services, and people who work in care and support. We heard from hundreds of people about their views on the challenges that we face for the future and the problems within the current system. This Green Paper is our response to what people told us and the issues we face.
Across the country, rising aspirations demand a better system of care and support both for those who look forward to a long and active old age – but who may need some support to stay well during their later years – and for those who need support earlier in their lives due to disability. This Green Paper offers several options for debate around how we as a country can respond to this challenge by building a new National Care Service for everyone.
This executive summary is the opening chapter of Shaping the Future of Care Together. The full text of the Green Paper will appear in this section of the website over the next few days.
i am disabled and approaching the
dreaded age of 65 , i do not know
how i would cope without dla.
After going through the green paper I noticed that mental health sector was hardly addressed. I suggest that something be done about it. It will leave a very huge gap on the new reform if it is not covered.
Whilst it's good news for people like me to hear that DLA for people under age 65 is remaining as is, it's extremely worrying that for anyone claiming AA and people aged 65 or over claiming DLA, the process will change completely, and no doubt they'll end up with even less money - without a transitional process!!
It is important that D.L.A is continued to be paid in a RELIABLE MANNER . people over 65 receiving this benefit rely on it for much of their needs as their health conditions worsen and their income dwindles. It is no good handing over payment to social services/local councils as they cannot manage to run the services they control now
I have a mental illness which can be severe at times and is triggered by ongoing stress. I also have other conditions.However I do try to take responsiblity for my health so to reduce symtoms and be more 'independant' as the health services would say . I try my best to appear ' normal' as I have often been victimised when experiencing symtoms. I feel asthough myself and other's within society ( including some mental health proffessionals) are not caring about our struggle at this time. Someone is always there to question your disability when a credit crunch arrives. Surely we are the experts on our own health - to an extent ( I have always been told ) due to personal experience. We are all individuals so don't all fit into a stereotype! Assessors may assume a great deal but be wrong. We need our DLA and Attendance Allowance ( at any age !) as we know our own needs! Is it a case of survival of the fitest now in 2009? We will all be 65 one day. My mother relies on her benefits due to her cancer condition ( in the later stage ) Please do not stop DLA or Attendance Allowance for genuine claimants.
My husband has not worked for 20 years because of mental illness and the physical results of a stroke and I had to give up work early to care for him. We are now both over 65 and depend on DLA to supplement our income.
I also look after mymum who is nearly 88 and does not go out unless I take her. I do lots of jobs to help her maintain an independent life and also her shopping. I need to be available to take her to doctor and nurse appointments and she gets Attendance Allowance. She is one of only three people who pay the full rent in her sheltered accommodation and needs her AA to help out.
How do we solve this massive public sector debt (having bailed out the banking casino), which now costs the tax payer billions in interest alone? Maybe there’s a large, weak group we can start with. What about the disabled? Maybe we could put lots of articles on TV and in the papers about benefit cheats and lead swingers. That might get the general population on our side. After all, DLA and AA cost the tax payer a lot of money, so we could begin with them. Perhaps we could ambush them with a hasty, ill-conceived plan… But what if the disabled are rather cross about this; that might snooker us a bit. Hang on, divide and conquer: we could offer a reprieve to those under 65 and just go for the over 65s, to whom we could make a hollow promise of some sort of support from social services in lieu of allowances. Hush! Don’t tell anyone, but we could come back to get the under 65s later if this plan works.
I have been my wife’s carer for 19 years. She is 62 and has severe spinal and abdominal damage, plus PTSD. Her condition is life threatening and stress causes a dangerous escalation of her abdominal symptoms. She needs my help on and off all the time with all manner of problems. She receives DLA higher rate mobility and lowest rate care. She lost her career, and her illness has cost us dearly. I have been self-employed for 30 years and have been forced to work from home as best I can in order to accommodate her needs. I cannot for the life of me see how an agency can give her the help I give her. She does not want anyone else to help her because it would cause too much stress and make her symptoms unbearable. Well done, Green Paper. Her stress is already rising. Her symptoms have become debilitating these past few days.
I am worried now tht my DLA is at risk as I am 65 in February.
Why is it that I am a disabled person before I am 65 and then all of a sudden when I am 65 I dont seem to be able to manage my own affairs and then government take my DLA off me.
So what happens now? All over 65s have to go into care because they cannot now pay for someone to look after them.
What utter rubbish. There is only one winner in this and it certainly is not the over 65s.
It is the government who think that they can take over the DLA granted "indefinitely" to people and come out winning with money to spare off the disabled grants already given.
There can only be one of two outcomes if D.L.A and A.A are incorporated in a care system operated by local government.
The local care systems will be totally overwhelmed,and central government will have to find a lot more money.
or the level of care and help that the disabled recieve will be so inadequate that vast numbers of people will overwhelm the hospitals and the care homes.
Both of these outcomes will cost the government vast ammounts of additional money and they will be shown not only that they do not care what happens to disabled people, but that they care little for the tax payers money, as they will spend more for what will be an inferior and more expensive system.
There can only be one of two outcomes if D.L.A and A.A are incorporated in a care system operated by local government.
The local care systems will be totally overwhelmed,and central government will have to find a lot more money.
or the level of care and help that the disabled recieve will be so inadequate that vast numbers of people will overwhelm the hospitals and the care homes.
Both of these outcomes will cost the government vast amounts of additional money and they will be shown not only that they do not care what happens to disabled people, but that they care little for the tax payers money, as they will spend more for what will be an inferior and more expensive system.
29/10/2009 BY taking away attendance allowance/dla at 65 the government is hitting the weakest and most vulnerable people in our society. People who are sick need more heating and help around the home, how would the sick afford this help without AA/DLA. is just another way to of killing off the sick and elderly, because this government and the previous tory government have done there best to get rid of these benefits, even sending everyday people to the sick to cut down on benefits that doctors said they are sick enough for. When these benefits have been taken from the elderly and the over 65's, it will only be a short time till they start getting rid of benefits for the sick altogether. Irene Harrison
I am totally opposed to your plans to revoke DLA for the over 65s. Building Britain's future? National Care Service? You're surely having a laugh!
Yes, we do need a National care service, the present DLA beyond 65 needs protecting along with AA. We do not want any form of ageism in any National Care Service. We are forwarding a detailed response by post (hope the strike does not delay same) We have held two user forums across our area consulting with disabled and OP service Users. The comments reflect their views.
I am concerned at the threat to remove DLA to those who are now over 65. With no attached promise to provide sociial services care to the level needed when the disabled person loses the funding crrently used to provide it the impact on the disabled AND councils will be enormous to the point of catastrophe.
If the rights to DLA could be retained by existing holders the impact could be phased but even then grants to councils would need to be considerably increased.
I applaud the idea of a one off payment,either at retirement or death IF the money is used to increase funding to councils to provide the services
I have just read this horrific story about a £20.000 tax on everyones 65th birthday, supposedly to cover your future care.
If this gets to be the case I'm getting a passport, selling up and moving to China. At least you know where you stand with thar regieme.
Please dont bury your heads in the sand - this is a nightmare scenario for disabled and elderly. We face a fearful future where compassion and care are lacking. Vulnerable people need to know that they can trust the society to which they have in many cases contributed throughout their working lives, not dread increasing disability and the infirmities of old age having with punitive restrictions and financial hardship. Shame on a society that fails to take care of its most needy.
I am concerned about possible threat to Constant Attendance Allowance provided to War Pensioners with disability over as particular level.
Also because I was prudent means testing now means that I am excluded from most services provided to others as a right even though many will not have paid anything.
what is happening to this country? the government of the day say they want to abolish child poverty so give people with children loads of child tax credits to keep them out of poverty. most of the out of work families i know have all the latest gear. plasma t.v's. mobile phones, games consoles etc.. etc... while elderly and infirm are told they are not going to be provided for and will have to manage on the pittance they get! i am now medically retired. i have worked and paid my dues. i now have a list of illnesses including collapsed back muscles rendering me unable to walk far or fast and reynauds desease which means i am unable to keep warm. the money i receive allows me to pay for the transport i need to do the things fit and healthy people do but it does not go anywhere near to paying the winter fuel bills so my daughter pays them out of her own pocket. now if i was on jobseekers with loads of kids i would get extra cold weather payments. isn't all this the wrong way round? and on top of this you want to stop the small amount i get and get my local council to look after me instead. get real mr brown! you people are supposed to be the best in the country that is why you were elected. anyone with half a brain can see its not going to work. i worked for social services in the homecare section for ten years. i worked hard to get all my clients covered but with the best will in the world it didn't work then so how on earth is it going to work with another half a million plus clients? it cost the dept £13.50 an hour then to provide the service so they were farming as much as possible out to private tenders who were only out to make a profit so what sort of service do you think is being provided now? PLEASE LEAVE THE AA AND DLA AS IT IS. its not much but no government can better what we get from our friends and families who, for very little reward, are there for us 24 hours a day not for a couple of hours a week - if we're lucky enough to qualify!
concerned that dla and aa not guaranted for over 65's
and aa not safeguarded for umder 65's
necessity that dla and aa are totally
and fully safeguarded and paid DIRECTLT and FULLY to claimants thank you
Another government con taking from the weakest in society. I will not be able to afford to have central heating on in the winter if I lose DLA. The price has tripled in a couple of years for propane gas . Regular 30 mile trips to the hospital, now patients get sent to hospitals 50/60 miles away, who pays for the petrol? Central funding would be syphoned off for wacky projects. This government is a disgrace exploit their expenses then take off the disabled. shame on you.
BenefitsAndWork.co.uk are reporting that not only will AA and DLA be stopped at 65 under this proposal, but that everyone would have to pay a one-off tax of £20,000 to cover possible future care - including accommodation. Is this correct? If so, this proposal is absurd; or in Benefits and Work's own words "ruinous". Surely an insurance scheme for people much earlier in life would be more sensible - as I understood was being proposed.
a tax for 65 year olds will beggar people: not many people have any money to spare. Politicians must be living in a dream world.
I am in receipt of the lower level of DLA after an injury at work. My DLA was awarded to me because I am unable to prepare a FRESHLY made hot cooked meal as I cannot safely lift hot saucepans. I use this money to go and have a hot meal at a cafe.....When I reach 65 in three years time what will happen......meals on wheels?.......not a fresh hot meal!......or will I have to live on microwave food?......or sandwiches. I don't think for a moment that the council will send someone to my house to cook me a meal everyday and IF they did that will cost a lot more than the £18 a week that they give me now. Yet again the elderly will be left begging for help which they probably won't get.....leave our benifits alone.....give us some dignity and stop making us beg for our rights!
totally against any proposed changes to AA and DLA, for any age.
I have worked hard all my life and paid my way including full National Insurance contributions. I have scrimped and saved so that I now own my small terraced house and have v. modest savings. I have never claimed benefits and will not be entitled to any when I retire. Why should I be penalised by having to pay £20,000, to government departments to whom I would not give care and control of a goldfish, for care I may not need? If I die without needing care will my estate get the money back!?!
I have been awarded DLA 'Indefinitely' because of my multiple disabilities, not least because my spine is fused and my husband has to dress me, and perform other private duties for me. If my DLA is taken away it will be against my Human Rights - everyone else jumps on this bandwagon, well so will I. We receive Pension Credit because we are on such a tiny income. We would just curl up and die if my DLA was taken away, we would have no quality of life at all - and we don't have much anyway. I don't want Social Services making me jump through hoops to receive something I have already been granted, and Andy Burnham has no right to take this away from me!
I have commented on this site before burt would like to add further comments. Due to a variety of health problems I cannot use buses (if there was a bus service which there is not) I need to visit the doctor and will need my daughter to take me or if I feel up to it I will use a Taxi = cost £12. I am expecxting to have to visit our nearest hospital at least 3 times in the next few weeks, Taxi fare £38 each time. If my daughter takes me she looses pay, and I like to recompense her as much as possible. Special diet required for Menieres and Diabetis - quite a strain on the budget. All night care essential - again it falls on my daughter. I did not seek the AA benefit - I was contacted and have made decisions based on receiving this for life. I cannot get upstairs anymore and have bought a special bed because of my mobility and back problems. Its a great help raising me up and keeping me comfortable but approx cost £1800 but chosen for its suitability to my various problems. There is no way that Social Services could provide the services I need in such an efficient manner - aand if they did take over the cost to the country would be far in excess of the AA Allowance. I know we have problems, aging population etc, but I think those who already receive these allowances should continue to do so. This government does not fill one with confidense, they have made such a mess of so many things, we are over governed by a government in which no longer have any faith, especially safter the fiasco of the banking crisis (which they dont seem to be able to resolve) and the disgrace of their own allowances and abuse of such. Will close or the computer screen witll give me the dizzies again. Lets keep fighting
I am digusted by this Governments attack on the sick, I have cared for my Dear wife day and night for years she has many problems.I now find I have cancer myself but because I have not worked for years (as they put it ) I can not claim any benifit for myself.Now we have to swallow this bitter pill as well that this evil Government could even think of taking our DLA away from us is unthikable. How are we to survive?
Why do we have to suffer surely the Banks could start paying some money back,and the MPS could take a wage cut.
LEAVE US ALONE
This is ann unfair and unworkeable option and once again hit's the most vulnerable in society. It's taking taway their choices and leaving them with no say in their care and in many cases will leave needy people with no care at all.
Just another dick turpin move from a sensless government.
I have read with great interest the comments already here. The present government wish to put AA and DLA for the OVER 65's into their new National Care Service. I hope the governemtn is also aware of their ageism and illegalities when the DWP give an award for 'Life' or 'indefinitely' that means exactly what it says for the rest of a persons life i.e. whether they die at 17 or 70 they are ''entitled'' to receive this award of DLA or AA. I work with many people who have varying care and mobility needs, some who will never see adulthood and others who will go past 65 and beyong, never should there be a change that could affect their needs which this Benefit gives to them. There are two things this governement has said before, one is having choice and the other is having independence........If this or any other government takes this away from those who are over 65 I hope they will retaliate in a way we have never before seen in Britian. I for one will be there to help them gain back what is rightfully theirs.
The governemtn needs to leave the DLA and AA alone for those who need it most to be able to choose who they employ and how they use their money to make their lives easier.
i am completely dependent on both the middle rate care component of dla and the higher rate of mobility allowance.these combined afford me the freedom to choose a special diet(i have to eat out) and taxi fares to aid mobility, as i am not allowed to drive, and any attempt to lump these into an amorphous one size fits all locally controlled budget would effectively deprive me of my day to day life-line.this would be a personal disaster and would prove injurous to my health both mentally and physically.i am also 65 in 4 years time which is like sitting on a time bomb.
do these politicians really appreciate the gravity of what is being contemplated?common sense has to prevail for once..
While the Health Secretary's comments about DLA being safe for those under the age of 65 may have reassured some, it does nothing to reassure those over 65 who must now fear the possibility of losing this financial support.
If people have a disability we have a duty to ensure their welfare, financial as well as health is secured - they often have enough challeges to overcome and burdening them with the additional fear of losing essential income.
Removing this financial support will result in many disabled people and their families leading restricted lifestyles that such legislation as the Disability Discrimination Acts have tried to overcome, and does nothing to promote inclusion of disabled people in society or helping them to live their lives with dignity and independence.
The idea of ploughing the DLA of over065's into the NCS is pure lunacy. Not least because for many people, DLA is paid for MOBILITY - not for care.
Like many disabled people, I use my DLA partly for the provision of an essential powerchair on the R2M scheme, and the residue goes into my budget, where it subsides - among much else - my huge taxi bill, which can be as much as £70 per week, as my walking ability is minimal, a few yards at best.
And what of those who put all their DLA into Motability vehicles? Or the very many who simply couldn't get by without simply ploughing their DLA into the household budget?
This scheme, if it ever sees the light of day, will accomplish one thing and one thing only - it will plunge many thousands of people into penury. It should be strangled at birth.
none of the british gouverment are in touch with the people of this country.for our heath or well being. a vote of no confidence in them at all.
yet other countrys and there problems matter more to them
I have lived with heart disease from the age of 41. I was very fit and healthy yet suffered a big heat attack and ended up in hospital. Then at 55 I had another heart attack and was told part the bypass had failed and all native arteries were blocked. Next came a cardiac arrest and an implantable defibrillator and the end of working because of chronic heart failure. I got DLA and IB and a very small pension which gives just enough to manage but nothing more than just living. Now, like many others I am threatened with losing benefits and in 5 years losing DLA. For someone who has worked, never claimed benefits before and served my country, I left angry and upset. I did everything to keep fit, healthy and employed but still got sick. It seems that in modern Britain being ill is a crime that needs to be punished and this government (and the Tories) seem intent on doing that very efficiently.
To those who have it shall be given ie the bankers
And the needy who rely on DLA can go to hell
I do not feel that taxing people at the age of 65 to the tune of £20,000 to pay for care is a very fair way forward. I think the DLA system should be left alone as it gives people personal choice as to what care they buy in and this is often more cost effective than someone else making the decision for you.
I am a Benefits Advisor and I am appalled at what the Labour government is proposing. After going on about "pomoting choice and independence for the most vulnerable in our society" I don't know how they can even conceive of handing over control back to the local authorities. They will not succeed in saving any money in the long run, they will only succeed in making our society a lot poorer by inflicting greater hardship on the most vulnerable.
Please leave DLA (and AA) alone, for over 65s too. Money taken and transferred to LAs would disappear into the void and it would be a step backwards with the genuinely disabled having even less say in arranging their own care which is suitable for them. We are not numbers, we are individuals! With needs that don't fit into convenient government tick boxes. I used to work for a local authority ten years ago and even then they were struggling with caseloads. Money would be squandered on various council's ill-thought-out/PC schemes or disappear and not reach where it is really needed. I really find the government's attitude to the genuinely disabled patronising and demeaning, suggesting/assuming that EVERYONE on disability-related benefits is a fraud until proved otherwise; the DLA forms are a nightmare even for a well-educated person, and you have to fight tooth and nail for your rightful award already. Querying awards levels and asking for them to be looked at again results in a very stern warning that 'if we do that it might get taken away altogether'.... methinks every way of putting people off applying in the first place, and then appealing is being tried - on govt. instructions...to save them money and diddle genuine applicants out of their rightful awards. This is because the govt need to save money somewhere - the total mess the govt have made of this country's finances/budget themselves. Why take it out on the disabled. Because th is a scandal. They think we are weak and wont stand up for ourselves. And maybe we are less INFLUENTIAL than fat bankers who have caused a lot of the problems, and with whom the govt. have tried too little too late. They think we are easy targets. Don't let them. Make your voices heard.
Also, this 20k tax on reaching 65 is a horrendous idea. My modest home in a rather chavvy area is worth about 85k, solid concrete walls, hard to heat, but is my own paid for by years of toil which partly cost me my health.
At 59 I was rather hoping that when I pop my clogs, my daughter, who combines working hard for NHS and caring for my (only) disabled 12 year-old grandchild, who needs care/attention 24 hours per day, could have looked forward to moving into my home if she so wished, not having to sell it to pay for some government scheme to pay for every pensioner's care needs, (whether I need them or not). Instead she would have to sell my home to pay this tax, and carry on struggling herself. Over my dead body! (Yes I suppose it would be!) Looks like if this plan goes ahead any further govt are going to have a big big revolt on their hands. Let the disabled 'stand up and be counted' even if some cannot literally stand! Honestly, I think this govt, supposed to be FOR the people, are working against us all, especially people of meagre means, who struggle already. I for one, am fed up with being kicked while I'm down and I object most strongly to these latest ideas. (I used to be a minor civil servant once too, so don't say I don't know what I'm talking about! - We saw/heard some of what goes on in the upper echelons...) senior civil servants and politicians are so far removed from REAL life and how life in Britain is for the vast majority of us, that they really HAVEN'T A CLUE!!!!!
I am aware that DLA for the under 65s is safe but that the government want to take it away from over 65s.
I am totally blind and have to buy specialised equipment so that I can cope with daily life. I also have to pay for people to do jobs round the house that I cant manage. Loss of DLA would make my life unbearable.
I think it's a disgrace for this government to even think of it and shows what they think of elderly people.
We're not wanted!
If people under 65 can handle these benefits and provide for their own needs, why can't over 65's. As things stand now, if you go into a nursing home DLA is taken away anyway.
I am appalled at the suggestion that DLA and AA for the over 65s should be taken out of the control of the recipients and handed over to local authorities. The way the benefit is used varies from person to person. I do not need or want the local authority to tell me that they will provide a better care of support. I am well able to control my DLA in the way that suits me best. To take that independence away and be utterly dependent on a local authority to take control of my life is degrading. Do not rob the over 65s of the dignity of managing their disability in the way they KNOW is best under the pretext of saving money. If it is OK for the under 65s to take control of their lives then it should be the same for the over 65s. This is blatant discrimination against older disabled people.
I feel that if NHS and Care services were exempt VAT on providing the service. The burden of care would be reduced by 17.5 percent. VAT is levied to pay for our membership of the EEC perhaps the levy could be put on somethingelse. perhaps MPS expenses
I am aware that DLA for under 65s is not under consideration now, but I am totally against the proposals to remove Attendance Allowance and DLA for people aged 65 and over and that care ncharges MUST be funded from general taxation.
I think that it is absolutely disgusting that the government are thinking of stopping benefits of DLA/AA for the over 65's.
I am not in this age bracket yet but I have in the past had dealings with the social care system and I have found them shoddy and unprofessional, this is after coming from a career in the nursing profession myself.
My family and private carers (with the money from the DLA) help me now and I would not entertain an employee from the social work department coming in after the age of 65 years old and starting to do personal care for me.
This is the attitude of all in government and the thinking classes - let the rich get richer and the poor and sick suffer. Why on one day am I allowed DLA and the next day it is taken away, but I might also face a tax bill of £25,000 to pay. I presume that this also applies to my wife, so in effect the tax bill is £50,000.
There is a growing number of people who are (a) getting to know about these proposals and (b) will be affected by them who vote and there is a General election around rhe corner. Take the cost out of general taxation. In the '60s taxation was tierered upto a rate of 95%, now wouldn't that be nice to hit those hard woring lads and lasses in the City with a proposal like that!
Great concerns, and it is very worrying the way these things tend to sneak in quietly under the wire.
If DLA goes I dread to think how those most in need and disabled will be able to live as opposed to just exist with their health problems.
Mental Health is a fundamental and enormous area of need which seems to be totally overlooked.
I am 81 years old and was born with CMT and now spend my days in a wheelchair which I bought myself. Do the Government know how long we have to wait for these sort of things to be provided? I was awarded the higher rate DLA in January after putting it off for years as I now also have osteoporosis and COPD. so I thought at least my money worries are over I've even been paying a monthly sum for my funeral and I can buy any aids I need now and won't have to wait for them (perhaps until it's too late.
I am aware that DLA for under 65s is not under consideration now, but I am still totally against the proposals to charge everybody £20,000 on their 65th birthday, then still make everybody pay for their subsequent care charges and I am absolutely against the plan to remove Attendance Allowance and DLA for people aged 65 and over, and I demand that all care charges MUST be funded from general taxation, since EVERBODY has already paid into general all their working lives.
Does this 'rotten government' seriously consider that local authorities are remotely capable of running an efficient elderly care system, perhaps this 'rotten government' only has to consider the worst example of local authorities' total lack of ability to CARE and it is their past and continuing record of failure in so many appalling cases of child abuse? Do we have to expect ranks of daily cases in the media, one involving poor children 'at risk' being murdered, and then another describing some poor old soul found starved to death in her freezing home and then yet another poor child and so on, and each explained away by the director of social services as a result of lack of resources?
Or is this what the 'rotten government' actually wants? Old people and it appears certain children do not rate highly on this 'rotten government's master plan and appear to be expendable.
Where do the Government think the over 65's are going to get £20,000 from ?. If they claim we are to save for our old age - avoiding us becoming a burden on the State, if they feel we can afford the extra - think again.
WE CANNOT CLAIM ON ANY
EXPENSES like they do.
I wonder how many M.P.'s rely on the State for the care in old age 65 + ?, probably not many as they doubtless have private schemes.
We have the proof of the long held suspicion that Government lives in " Cloud Cookoo " land, is 65th birthday tax is yet another example
To Quote an often used phrase connected with State Benefit " Its Public money and must be accounted for ", so is the money M. P.'s get from the Taxpayer -if you waste it watch out - you'll be caught out.
I would like to see every M. P. complete an Income Suport form as an example of hardship, then they might leave benefits alone.
If the Government really want to save money cut out Trident, who needs it now ?. Russia and America have enough to wipe out this planet alone.