Queen’s speech: clever thinking or a lack of foresight?

Maybe it was one of those incredibly clever pieces of joined-up thinking? The Queen’s speech made not one mention of minimum pricing for alcohol or plain cigarette packaging. But it did say there would be legislation to reform the way long-term care is pay for.

So keep them drinking and smoking, therefore ensuring they die young and then there will not be so much pressure on social care funding in the future?
 
The problem (and I recognise there are many) with my (conspiracy) theory is that government’s notoriously do not think that far ahead.

Instead, they appear to be bottling (if you will excuse the awful pun) the alcohol pricing measures and cigarette packaging because of the massive attack there has been on these proposals from interested lobbies and those backbenchers who hate a whiff of nanny state.

Even when there is compelling evidence that both measures would save lives.
 
The social care reforms are less problematic although the tension will come once the bill’s details are finally published. The headline is that the reform on long term care is to ensure the elderly do not have to sell their homes to meet their care bills.

The cap on care costs has been put by the government at £72,000, as opposed to the £35,000 cap recommended by Andrew Dilnot, who led the government-ordered commission into dealing with the issue.
 
Mr Dilnot had also warned that putting that cap above £50,000 would not provide the necessary protection for people with low incomes and low wealth. The government says this will provide necessary peace of mind to those facing care costs.
 
Of course, not everybody will need to sell their homes as they grow older and the drive has been towards keeping people in their own houses with support should they need it. 

So bad news, to time with the Queen’s speech, is the report from the Association of Directors of Social Services (Adass) with the headline: “Social care funding: a bleak outlook is getting bleaker”.
 
Local authorities are already facing an estimated £1.89bn reduction in funding to provide support for those who desperately need it and now it is estimated that a further £800m is to be cut from the budgets this financial year.
 
Adass Vice-President Sandie Keene said: “It is absolutely clear that all the ingenuity and skill that we have brought to cushioning vulnerable people as far as possible from the effects of the economic circumstances cannot be stretched any further.” 

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