My Lords, I support Amendments 127 and 141 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler; Amendment 143 in the name of my noble friend Lady Bull; and Amendments 144A and 182. Sadly, my noble friend Lady Bull is unwell, so I will speak to Amendment 143 and do my best to encapsulate her reasons, as well as mine, for returning to it on Report. I shall not move it later when it is called.
Unfortunately, at this hour, my voice is fading because I have had to use it a great deal today, so I shall use my speech facilitator, as allowed by the House, more than I would usually.
6.15 pm
Clause 155 overall is a regressive measure which will particularly affect younger disabled adults. Amendments 127 and 141 would restore the current charging provisions in the Care Act. Amendment 143 would apply a zero cap to the care costs of people under the age of 40 who develop or have developed eligible care support needs. It would effectively make their care needs free.
The Government’s current proposals seek to apply one charging system to two very contrasting groups: older adults and working-age adults. They are significantly different, not only in their care needs but in their financial profile. Working-age adults starting out in life with high care costs have little chance of saving for the future. As one social care commentator has noted, the catastrophe for many working-age disabled people takes the form of years of poverty and denial of opportunities.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which came into force under a Conservative Government, acknowledged for the first time that treating everyone the same discriminates against disabled people. It is necessary to treat some people differently in order to give them equal life chances—to work, to travel and to be free; in other words, to improve one’s lot.
The Government should look at a charging formula to address the economic hardship of those reliant on social care. Social care is an investment; it makes economic sense for a thriving, healthy society. Keeping people in a state of dependency is infinitely more expensive than enabling them to live active, independent lives.
Having to give a large part of your modest income to the state—almost 40% in some cases—because you happen to be born disabled, or to become disabled early in life, impoverishes those who already have disability costs, averaging £583 a month. The evidence shows that this group will suffer most in terms of their health and well-being. Trapped in poverty, they will never achieve what the Government claim they want disabled people to aspire to—so much for the levelling-up agenda.
The Government say that nobody will be worse off than they are now. That is of no comfort to young disabled people whose means-tested benefits and entitlements are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living. The Government’s own impact assessment undermines their claim. It assumes that working-age adults do not contribute to their care costs from their income, but it then admits that
“income from some benefits would be included”.
It cannot be right that benefits intended to help individuals meet the additional costs of disability are used to fund the gap in local authorities’ care budgets.
When the Government announced the cap last September, they said it reflected the Dilnot charging reforms, but Dilnot recommended a zero cap for those under 40, as it did not think that younger adults could
“realistically be expected to have planned for having a care and support need, nor will they have accumulated significant assets”.
This solution is not radical or expensive. Few under-40s are able to contribute to their care costs—on the Government’s figures, 90% of all working-age adults have their care costs supported by the state. Basic estimates suggest that around 9,000 might benefit in 2022-23 and up to 10,500 in 2031-32. The absence of government data on this sector makes it difficult to estimate the cost more accurately.
It cannot be right to proceed with a policy on such inadequate evidence. If the Government do not accept this amendment, will the Minister at least commit to improving the quality of data on working-age adults? The Minister raised concerns in Committee that the zero cap would create a cliff edge at the age of 40. But cliff edges exist in numerous policies in legislation, such as pension ages and the £20,000 limit in the current charging proposals.
At the start of the Tokyo Paralympic Games last summer, the Prime Minister referred to the newly launched national disability strategy, saying that
“we are harnessing that same ambition and spirit, to build a better and fairer life for all disabled people living in the UK.”
I am afraid that in Clause 155 there is a very hollow ring to that much-trumpeted fairness—in fact, it does the opposite. I therefore urge the Minister to go back and think again about the effect of these charging proposals on younger working-age disabled adults. Clause 155 denies them the right to equal life chances, and I urge Members to reject it.