Brown pledges social care reform for elderly and disabled

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers was invited today to hear the Prime Minister launch his review of a care and support system for England. Without radical reform, the government admits that the care system in England faces a £6bn shortfall within 20 years.

Speaking at the meeting of leaders in the social care sector at the King's Fund, the Prime Minster emphasized how essential it is that people who have worked hard and saved for their retirement are treated fairly in the provision of social care:

"Helping relatives is a challenge that most families rise to, however difficult it becomes - but that doesn't make it any easier. Nor does it remove family worries about providing physical care that is needed - or take away people's concerns that at some point in the future they may have to sell a treasured home to pay for their own care."

The review opens a debate on moving to a system that guarantees independence, choice and control to people who need support, whilst ensuring that the way people are assessed and charged for support is fair affordable and consistent across the country.

Alex Fox from The Trust talked to Care Minister Ivan Lewis about the need to ensure that the gains for those needing support are mirrored by increased indendence and control for unpaid family carers. We were encouraged that the minister and Prime Minster talked throughout the discussion about the centrality of carers to providing an affordable and world class social care system.

Carers services are already demonstrating an impressive range of personalised approaches to supporting carers and their families. We hope the new carers strategy will help us embed these innovations right across England.