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Labour to guarantee free high-level personal care
NEARLY 300,000 people with high-level care needs will be guaranteed free personal care under plans to be unveiled in the Queen's Speech today.
Another 130,000 people needing care for the first time will be offered help to stay in their home to maintain their independence.
They will be offered equipment such as "wandering devices" which wake someone up if their elderly partner is sleepwalking, alarms linked to nearby help or electronic pill dispensers.
The proposals, which form the first stage of Labour's plan to create a National Care Service, are estimated to cost 670m and will be included in a slimmed-down Queen's Speech today ahead of a General Election next spring.
Among the other measures expected to be included include extra powers for the Financial Services Authority to intervene to stop excessive bankers pay and bonuses, and legislation to allow up to four trials of carbon capture and storage technology to go ahead.
Patients and parents are also expected to be given more rights over the care or education they receive, while a Floods Management Bill is expected to offer clarity over who is responsible for preventing future surface water flooding.
With an election just months away, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has already called for today's event to be cancelled so the coming months can be spent cleaning up politics.
And Tory leader David Cameron yesterday warned the speech would be a nakedly political event, as Labour seeks to
put down "dividing lines" between the parties ahead of polling day.
The Government is keen for the care proposals to form the heart of the final pieces of legislation ahead of the election, although the measures have been heavily trailed in recent months.
Under the plans, which aim to help the most vulnerable, older people and younger disabled people will get extra help to live independently for longer in their own homes from next October.
The 280,000 people, including those with serious dementia or Parkinson's disease, with the highest needs will be guaranteed free care, with their savings protected from any future charges.
Some of those already get free care, although others will benefit for the first time.
An additional 130,000 people who need home care for the first time to regain their independence will now get help, if the legislation is passed before the election.
Officials hope this help will stop their conditions deteriorating further and allow them to remain independent.
Equipment installed in their homes could also include movement-activated alarms, using the voice of a grandchild to remind an elderly person to close the door.
There are expected to be around 15 Bills, half the usual total. But with an estimated 70 sitting days after taking account of recesses, not all of the Bills will become law.
On the economy, Labour will play the experience card and claim that recovery will be under way next year – and that the Tories' desire to slash spending quickly to reduce debt risks plunging the economy back into recession.
'Whingers' school bill attacked
Children's Secretary Ed Balls's plans to guarantee pupils and parents certain rights from the education system were condemned by school leaders yesterday, who said it will lead to a "whingers' charter" for families to complain.
A new Education Bill to be unveiled in the Queen's Speech is due to include a set of pupil and parent guarantees, setting out what each can expect from the schools system, and providing a means of redress if these expectations are not met.
But the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) say the proposals are "prescriptive" and open the door to litigation.
Association general secretary John Dunford said: "School leaders are extremely concerned that these 'guarantees' will turn into a whingers' charter for the more litigious."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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