Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham this morning led a Debate in Parliament on the Future of Social Care Services.
During the 90 minute Westminster Hall Debate, Alex argued:
“In the North, spending (on social care) will fall by 4.7% in the current financial year alone. Local Authorities in the most deprived areas, many in the North but elsewhere as well, have the worst mortality figures and the highest incidence of long-term ill-health and they are the ones suffering the deepest cuts in spending power.”
“While we await the Dilnot Commission’s Report on long-term funding and the Government’s response to the Law Commission Review, the Government is in effect already re-engineering the very infrastructure of care and support.”
After the Debate, Alex commented:
“I was delighted to be supported by my Labour colleagues who wanted to have their say on the future of social care services, including Catherine McKinnell MP (Newcastle North) and Dave Anderson MP (Blaydon). It was a disappointment that with the exception of the Minister for Care Services, only one Coalition MP bothered to turn up to the debate.”
“I had hoped that MPs from all sides of the House would have taken the opportunity to debate this issue, which urgently needs to be addressed in order to achieve a sustainable long-term solution for the future of social care services. Indeed the Minister himself said he hoped that the issue would be debated more in Parliament in the future.”
“I hope that when the Dilnot Commission reports in July we will reach a cross-party agreement about the way forward. Our most vulnerable people deserve this issue to be taken seriously across the House and not treated as a party political football, as it has been by some politicians in the past.”