AM Highlights Consultation

CARL SARGEANT AM HIGHLIGHTS CARE CONSULTATION
Carl Sargeant, AM for Alyn and Deeside, is highlighting a new Assembly Government consultation that will explore how care will be best paid for across Wales in the future.The consultation and engagement process - ‘Paying for Care in Wales: creating a fair and sustainable system’, will take place between November 2008 and March 2009, and will focus on how the current system of paying for care will need to change in order to meet future needs in addition to examining the balance of responsibility that lies between the state, the individual and their families.Mr Sargeant said: “With our rapidly aging population, it is predicted that by 2018 the number of people in Wales aged 85 and over will increase by 29% from the current 72,000 to 93,000. Those aged 65 to 84 are projected to increase by 24% from 469,000 to 582,000.“This presents us with a large funding gap between the cost of care services and the money that is available to pay for them. This is a serious challenge that we need to start preparing for now.“The consultation will seek to gather opinions on how care services should be funded – and I am sure that many constituents will have strong views and will wish to have their voice heard in the process.”Questions that will be debated during the consultation process include:• Should the Government do more to ensure that people prepare for the costs of their own care, for instance by making some sort of saving for these costs compulsory? • Should the system be the same for everybody or should we consider varying the ways we allocate government support for individuals according to certain principles? • Should there be one system for everyone or different systems depending on the type of need for care and support that somebody has? • Which is more important: local flexibility or national consistency? • What should the balance be between targeting government resources at those who are least able to pay and having a system that supports those who plan and save? An interactive website, Paying for Care in Wales, has also been established that will enable people to respond directly to key questions online. The website can be found at www.payingforcareinwales.net