Councillor Phil Gilchrist moved and Councillor Dave Mitchell seconded a motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order 13.

In formally moving his motion, Councillor Gilchrist stated that he was happy to accept the Conservative amendment, proposed by Councillor Lesley Rennie and seconded by Councillor David Burgess-Joyce as follows:

“After final paragraph, add:

Furthermore, Council requests the five Group Leaders write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Chancellor of the Exchequer expressing the view of Council.”

Having applied the guillotine in accordance with Standing Order 9.1, the Council did not debate this matter and it was then –

Resolved (unanimously) –

Council notes that:

a.  in 1999, a Green Paper was announced and the then Government set out to consult on the future of social care funding and a Royal Commission was set up. This published proposals which included a more generous means-test and free personal and nursing care;

b.in 2009, the Labour Government’s Green Paper proposed a National Care Service;

c.  in 2011, the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support, set up by the Coalition Government, proposed a cap on lifetime social care charges and a more generous means-test;

d.in 2014, the Coalition Government legislated to implement the Commission’s recommendations with cross-party support;

e.  in July 2015, the Conservative Government postponed their introduction citing funding pressures and a lack of preparedness by local authorities.

Council recognises that, since 2017, there has been a succession of promises to fund and reform the long term funding of Social Care. These have included:

The promise of a Green Paper made by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer in March 2017, 

• a promise to “work to improve social care and bring forward proposals for consultation” in the Queen’s Speech  in June 2017;
• a statement, in November 2017, that a Green Paper would be published by the Parliamentary summer recess in 2018 and would “focus on care for older people”;
• the setting out of seven principles to “guide the Government's thinking ahead of the Social Care Green Paper” in March 2018;
• the intention announced, in January 2019, to publish a Social Care Green Paper “by April 2019".

Finally, the Queen’s Speech of 19December 2019 included this commitment…

‘My Ministers will seek cross-party consensus on proposals for long term reform of social care. They will ensure that the social care system provides everyone with the dignity and security they deserve and that no one who needs care has to sell their home to pay for it."

Council believes that Wirral’s residents need Parliament to deliver a way forward that will help them plan for their future care needs with some degree of certainty. Council recognises that all those involved in Wirral’s social care sector have worked, through the past months of the pandemic, to support Wirral’s people in care homes and in the community. It has faced shortages of PPE, distressed families who have lost loved ones and, latterly, the anxiety of those who have not been visited and been unable to visit.

In view of this pressured and chequered history, Council requests that Wirral’s Members of Parliament do all they can to secure a consensus on a way forward that will secure funding and meet the needs of the frail and vulnerable members of our community.

Furthermore, Council requests the five Group Leaders write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Chancellor of the Exchequer expressing the view of Council.