The good, the bad, and the ugly
In the last week, social care has made the news for three very different reasons. It was a mix of good, bad, and downright ugly – and it’s why your MP needs to hear from you today.
The Good
Andy Burnham put social care at the centre of his campaign launch.
After twenty years of Westminster pretending care doesn't exist, that's a moment worth marking. When any senior politician puts care on the public agenda, and speaks about it so passionately, it means our message is landing.
But we need you to add your voice so that we can keep pushing for change.
The Bad
The King's Speech included a new Late Payments Bill designed to stop big firms paying small suppliers late. But the Bill only covers business-to-business payments; Councils are exempt.
The same councils that leave 81% of providers waiting on late payments and that owe £567 million in unpaid bills. Invoices that, in some cases, have been outstanding for over a year.
Westminster's flagship new Bill carves out the very organisations doing most of the damage to care providers, leaving them at the mercy of ‘bully boy’ Council tactics.
We don’t think that’s good enough, and MPs need to know about it.
The Ugly
The Chancellor announced that HMRC's mileage rate is rising by 10p, the first increase since 2011.
This is welcome news for care workers who deserve to be paid fairly and compensated for the costs of supporting people to live well in their community.
But it’s brutal news for the providers who now need to find this money.
Paying the full rate means even small care providers are facing more than £100,000 of additional costs this year, with not a single penny of extra Government funding to cover it.
Yet again, Westminster acts without considering the consequences for the thousands of care providers who are the glue that hold our communities together, support older and disabled people to live with dignity and independence, keep families in work, and hold up an NHS that would otherwise collapse.
Care About Care exists to make sure Westminster hears from the care sector – and puts in place the support it needs so that we can all deliver better outcomes for people needing care, people working in care, and help drive economic growth in every town.
It takes thirty seconds to email you MP through our campaign site and all we need is your postcode.
30 seconds to add your voice to the movement.
Please do it now.
Thank you for standing with us.
Kat & The Providers Unite team