Recommendation 49

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

The government accepts this recommendation. In September 2021, the government announced that it would be investing an additional £5.4 billion over three years to begin a comprehensive programme of reform for adult social care. Then, in December 2021, it published its adult social care reform white paper, ‘People at the Heart of Care’,21 which set out its 10-year vision for adult social care and outlined its priorities for investment over the next three years. The £5.4 billion investment over three years – building on measures in the Health and Care Act – includes £3.6 billion to reform the social care charging system and enable all local authorities to move towards paying providers a fair cost of care; and a further £1.7 billion to begin major improvements across adult social care in England. The government’s ten-year reform vision puts people at the centre of social care and will ensure that people have choice, control, and support to live independent lives; can access outstanding quality and tailored care and support, and find adult social care fair and accessible. The measures set out in the white paper will bring tangible benefit to the lives of people who draw on care, their families, and their carers. Over the three years from April 2022, there is funding for: a new £300 million investment in housing; £150 million of additional funding to improve technology and increase digitisation across social care; a £500 million investment in the workforce; a £5 million investment to pilot new ways to help people understand and access the care and support available; a £25 million investment to work with the sector to kickstart a change in the services provided to support unpaid carers; and more than £70 million to increase the support offer across adult social care to improve the delivery of care and support services. 21 People at the Heart of Care: adult social care reform white paper – GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/people-at-the-heart-of-care-adult-social-care-reform- white-paper) Implementation of the government’s ‘Health and social care integration’ white paper, published in February 2022,22 will help improve the quality and experience of care for individual patients, service users and carers, as well as outcomes for local populations. Building on the Health and Care Act 2022, the white paper sets out to bring NHS and local government closer together to join up health and social care services through the design of a shared outcomes framework, with a single accountable person who will be responsible for the delivery of these shared outcomes including shared health and care plans for people locally. It also sets out the actions the government will take, working with key partners, to make progress across the key enablers of integration including workforce, data and technology, financial pooling and alignment, oversight and leadership to make integrated health and social care a reality for everyone across England.