The National Care Forum has responded to the Chancellor's Autumn Statement

While welcoming some meaures, such as the minimum wage increase and the unfreezing of the Local Housing Allowance, the National Care Forum (NCF) says that by failing to include any mention of adult social care, its untapped potential to unlock economic growth, empower individuals and communities and support unpaid carers and those accessing social care into the workforce has been missed.

The NCF, which brings together over 170 of the UK's leading social care organisiations, welcomes the expansion of VAT relief on energy-saving materials on buildings used for charitable purposes and new green technologies but argues that by not mentioing social care, there are opportunites around technology in care, apprenticeships and the development of the care workforce that have been overlooked.

Professor Vic Rayner OBE, CEO of the NCF says:

“The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement fails to recognise that social care matters to us all. Without long-term investment in adult social care and local government, we will simply continue to see the widening of profound health and care inequalities."