Care Bill — Decline Second Reading — 16 Dec 2013 at 21:43

The majority of MPs voted to prevent an individual being charged for their care once a certain amount had been spent on their care and to set out the responsibilities of local authorities in relation to care as well as to reform the regulation of care and support services.

The majority of MPs voted in favour of the Care Bill^[1] at its second reading, to approve the principles of the Bill and allow it to continue on its path to becoming law.

The Care Bill:

• sets out the responsibilities of local authorities in relation to care and support including "promoting individual well-being", "preventing needs for care and support" and "promoting integration of care and support with health services etc."
• introduces provision for a cap on the care costs a local authority can charge an individual.
• introduces a duty of candour on providers of health care and adult social care services registered with the CQC.
• makes it an offence for care providers to release certain false or misleading information.

MPs were considering the Care Bill^[1] and debating a motion:

• That the Bill be now read a Second time.

This vote was on replacing that with a new motion stating:

• That this House,
• whilst affirming its belief that the Care Bill [Lords] is a modest step towards a better social care system that protects some people from catastrophic costs, and welcoming the new rights for users and carers that the former Labour Government initiated, notes that the Bill’s deferred payment scheme will result in people continuing to have to sell their homes to pay for care;
• disagrees with the Government’s assertion that their proposals will cap care costs at £72,000 given that self-funders will face far higher bills;
• further notes that it includes provisions which could put NHS hospitals at risk of having services reconfigured without adequate consultation and without clinical support;
• further notes that the Bill fails to include measures to address the current crisis in care and meet the needs of the UK’s ageing population, including a genuinely integrated NHS and social care system; and
• therefore declines to give a Second Reading to the Care Bill [Lords] because it is an inadequate response to the scale of the challenge facing social care and fails fully to implement the recommendations of the Francis Report.

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Care Bill, Parliament.uk

Debate in Parliament | Source |