Luke Myer MP has welcomed the Government’s uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant for this financial year – meaning an additional £340,416 for Middlesbrough and £268,691 for Redcar & Cleveland.
The funding will allow more disabled and elderly people to make vital improvements to their home, allowing them to live more independent lives and reducing hospitalisations.
Luke previously visited local accessible housing at Habinteg’s Cs estate in Hemlington, where he promised residents he would fight for more support for home upgrades so people can live more independently.
Luke said:
“I’m really pleased this funding has been confirmed – it will be vital in supporting people to live at home with the dignity, independence and quality of life that they deserve.”
Alongside the funding, the government’s immediate action to support adult social care also includes:
- harnessing the power of care technology, with a shared digital platform to allow up-to-date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff
- cutting red tape to ensure billions of joint NHS and social care funding is keeping people healthy and taking pressure off the NHS
- legislating for fair pay agreements to help fill the 131,000 vacancies in social care
- improving career pathways for care workers with an expansion to the national career structure for care staff
- new national standards to ensure providers and families use the best care technology
- delivering a £2,300 rise in carer’s allowance for family carers
- new guidance and support to help care workers to carry out routine monitoring including blood pressure checks,
meaning Teessiders can receive more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings.
Alongside these immediate steps to ease pressure on the sector and improve support for care workers, the government is also kickstarting work on the necessary long-term reform to overhaul social care.
As a first step, the government will launch an independent commission into adult social care. The commission, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey and reporting to the Prime Minister, will work with people drawing on care and support, families, staff, politicians and the public, private and third sector to make clear recommendations for how to rebuild the adult social care system to meet the current and future needs of the population.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“In the first six months of this government, work has already begun on stabilising the care sector, investing in prevention, and in carers and care workers. The investment and reforms we’re announcing today will help to modernise social care, get it working more closely with the NHS, and help deliver our Plan for Change.
“But our ageing society, with costs of care set to double in the next 20 years, demands longer term action.
“The independent commission will work to build a national consensus around a new National Care Service able to meet the needs of older and disabled people into the 21st century.
“I have written to opposition parties to invite them to take part in the commission’ work, and asked Baroness Louise Casey to build a cross-party consensus, to ensure the national care service survives governments of different shades, just as our NHS has for the past 76 years.
“We are appointing one of our country’s leading public service reformers, and Whitehall’s greatest doer, to finally grasp the nettle on social care reform.”