- Conference
- 2022 National Retired Members Conference
- Date
- 29 June 2022
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
SOCIAL CARE
Conference notes that from April 2022 National Insurance contributions have risen by 1.5% supposedly to help meet the cost of the NHS and also to provide additional funding for Social Care. Conference further notes that money is unlikely to be available for Social Care in the first instance.
Prime Minister Johnson has always said that he intends to “fix” Social Care and this NI rise, along with legislation to reduce the personal contribution to care by individuals purports to be his grand effort to produce the “fix”.
Mr Johnson should be well aware that this tinkering around the edges does not provide a “fix” for a system that is falling apart. What is needed is a commitment to the creation of a National Care Service, free at the point of need in the tradition of the NHS. This would provide services for older people both at home and in residential and nursing care if that represents the assessed need of individuals.
It is already the policy of Unison and its Retired Members Group to support the creation of a National Care Service. The Conservative Government needs to hear, loud and clear from Britain’s largest union and largest Retired Members Group that the policies being pursued by the government are insufficient and will never meet the needs of older people who need Social Care either at home or elsewhere.
Conference therefore resolves that
i)The National Retired Members Committee should seek to directly represent our position to government with the aim of persuading them to adopt Unison’s policy in relation to older people
ii)Retired Members Committees in the devolved administrations should be encouraged to make similar representations to the appropriate authorities within those countries with the same aim
iii)To keep all of our partners in the 4 countries of the UK informed of our actions and seek a co-operative approach with them on this issue.
iv)To inform the membership of progress at all stages of the process.