Dilnot Commission begins 2012 in a strong position

The first week of 2012 saw care provision at the forefront of political debate, with numerous politicians speaking out on the subject of the Dilnot Commission and attempts from related charities and organisations to ensure that the issue remains top of the agenda for some time.

The Commission itself was well-received by the Commons back in July, although delaying the real debate until 2012 appears to have encouraged a few unconvinced voices to make themselves known. Perhaps the clearest voice of discontent has been from Conservative MP John Redwood, who began the year by criticising Dilnot’s objectives for including ‘…too much on trying to protect the inheritance of the children of the elderly people concerned’, while also questioning whether the recommended £35,000 cap on individual care costs really gave Government an affordable goal to work towards.

Such comments might have threatened to begin the year in a negative light as far as the enthusiasm for reform is concerned. However, Redwood’s comments seemed to drown quite speedily in the determination of other parties to ensure this was not the case, with the support of care charities and health professionals seeming in complete solidarity with that of Prime Minister David Cameron and the majority of political thought on the matter. Indeed, the notion of consensus was the very topic on Andrew Dilnot’s lips when the economist himself spoke out on the appetite for care reform, even claiming that a ‘cross-party’ consensus is a strong possibility, a view that would seem to be backed by the comments of Labour health spokesman Andy Burnham, who referred to the implementation of Dilnot as ‘an important first step in reform of the care system in England’.

Attempts to hold cross-party talks prior to the 2010 election famously collapsed, with Labour and Conservative MPs blaming each other, and political fallouts between the parties are far from being ruled out in a continually testing time for government. Despite this, if there was any doubt that the sector was firmly behind the proposals then a coalition of more than sixty charity directors, health experts and government advisors issuing an open letter to the House of Commons on the issue, calling for the reforms to get full support, might be the deciding factor in keeping discontented voices to a minimum. Unlike the divisive Health and Social Care reforms, an argument that many predict will be an even more difficult issue for the Coalition than the economy in 2012, it doesn’t seem that there is much political capital to gain from the Dilnot Commission, unless it be of the failure to see it through.

The carehome.co.uk News pages will be following the Commons debate and other media developments regarding on the Dilnot Commission as it unfolds and we welcome any comment our web visitors might have on our Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin accounts.