Holly Minney
Court of Protection
The Dilnot Report
It was back in July 2011 that the Commission on Funding of Care and Support (chaired by Sir Andrew Dilnot), published a report, ‘Fairer care funding’.
This proposed reform of adult social care, to include support individuals should receive to help pay for care and what people should contribute towards care needed.
The coalition government agreed in principle but made some changes which were due to be implemented in 2016. However, this was eventually kicked into the long grass. It was postponed to 2020 and then indefinitely.
In September 2021, the government published ‘Build back better: Our plan for health and social care’. The plan was said to be to reform adult social care, including creation of a new integrated system between health and social care. There was a proposal for a cap on personal care costs, but this would not cover the cost of ‘bed and board’. Tax increases, by way of a national insurance levy was intended to be implemented in 2023, but once again this was delayed and then cancelled. A cap on the costs of care was suspended in 2023 until October 2025. There has since been a change of government and the cap has been scrapped.
The Labour government announced in January 2025 that a planned overhaul of social care would be delayed until 2028. The Times newspaper reported on 3rd January 2025 that Labour’s timetable is as follows:
- Crossbench peer’s two-part review of social care to begin in April
- First phase to focus on ‘medium-term’ issues and report back in mid-2026
- Second phase, regarding long-term problems, will not report until 2028
- Government has already scrapped plans for lifetime cap of £86,000 on care costs
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Samantha Hamilton, head of the Court of Protection department at Mullis & Peake LLP, and a panel deputy acting for a large number of vulnerable adults needing social care, said:
“It has now been over fifteen years since the Dilnot Commission started the investigation of the issues in social care. Despite the Commission’s report and several subsequent debates, investigations and proposals, there is still no change to the system. There is insufficient funding of social care, which directly impacts on the NHS, delaying hospital discharges which lead to ‘bed blocking’. The costs paid by local authorities for care are not sufficient to meet the actual care costs, particularly with increases in national insurance, pension contributions and the national minimum wage impacting on costs in the sector. Staffing levels are already too low, with many care staff leaving to work in other fields where pay is higher, and the jobs can be less demanding. No sticking plaster approaches will resolve the issues, but waiting at least another three years for a new report and longer for implementation, is simply not acceptable when the system is already at crisis point. “