FCC responds to Labour’s announcement on introducing free personal care

Today, Labour has announced that it will introduce free personal care for over 65s and is providing further details of its proposed National Care Service. We welcome this development. However, this current announcement does not include all people over 65 or those of working age and so some will still face the catastrophic costs of meeting their care needs. There are also questions over Labour’s commitment to provide a further £8bn p.a. by 2030 and whether this is sufficient to meet the real costs of free personal care. If people with care needs are to live with dignity and independence, we need cross-party agreement on how to fund social care in the round – and a fair and long-term settlement. This should be a priority for all political parties along with the critical need for a well-trained workforce of the right size to ensure high-quality provision.