17.08.12
The wait continues
Although reports suggest the Government has got over its terror of the price tag attached to the Dilnot social care funding proposals, and is now set to commit real money to the plan, the Department of Health is remaining deliberately vague, at least for now.
Confirmation of the £1.7bn funding is now expected in the autumn – despite the fact that the sector had been awaiting this same decision for some time before the announcement last month.
For many, these changes are absolutely necessary and must be implemented as soon as possible. The cost of such a scheme is not set to get any cheaper, in contrast the longer this problem is left the more expensive it will become. And the Treasury is unlikely to suddenly find a bundle of money which it could use to fund social care.
So it is unclear why, if the Government intends to go ahead with the proposals after all, the need for the delay?
Finding the funding will undoubtedly be difficult. But if not now, then when?
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