Advertisement
Activism

Social care: The third way…

The Tories’ social care plans played a big part in their election woes, yet charities agree that the care system faces a funding crisis. Innovative solutions are coming from the third sector

Social care became a surprisingly hot topic of discussion during the general election. The subject has been almost completely neglected in recent years but Prime Minister Theresa May ensured it was pushed into the spotlight when her party pledged a radical shake-up of the social care system.

The Tory manifesto outlined a plan for people receiving care at home to have their housing wealth taken into account when calculating charges, in the same way permanent residents of care homes currently do. May was forced during the campaign to promise an “absolute limit” on the amount people would have to pay for the costs of their care, following a barrage of negative headlines.

Despite the brouhaha, all the leading charities in the sector agree: Britain’s care system faces a funding crisis, one that cannot be ignored much longer. An ageing population means demand for care is increasing. And the funding for the care that local authorities provide for people in their own home has been cut, falling 17 per cent since 2010.

Local authority funding for care provision in the home has fallen 17% since 2010

If many councils are having to do more with less, they would be wise to look at some of the innovative and ambitious work of care organisations in the third sector.

Charities, social enterprises and social businesses are developing new ways to offer a more personalised, flexible form of care at home, allowing many older people and adults with disabilities to choose what kind of care they need while living more independent lives.

Moving away from the one-size-fits-all approach, the Scottish homecare charity Cornerstone allows people with disabilities and other support needs to personalise and tailor their own budget. The aim is to give them more choice and control over the regularity of nurses’ visits, help with cooking, cleaning and other services.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Partly inspired by the Dutch model of neighbourhood care, Cornerstone is introducing a new business model called Local Cornerstone, and is also introducing ‘self-organising’ teams of support staff. The model empowers staff, who best know the needs of the people in their community, to make local decisions focused on the needs of people they support.

“Organising our business into small, autonomous, community-based entities made up of a network of self-organised teams will ensure care continues to be truly person-centred,” says chief executive Edel Harris.

In the north east of England, the social enterprise Positive Support For You is offering a similar kind of person-centred support to adults in the area with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions or mental ill-health, helping them live well in the community outside of institutional support.

Big Issue Invest, the social investment arm of The Big Issue Group, has helped finance the work of Cornerstone, Positive Support for You and other organisations delivering adult social care. In the past five years, Big Issue Invest has invested over £4m in these groups. “These organisations are filling a much-needed gap in service provision,” says James Salmon, investment director at Big Issue Invest. “They make sure people with a range of care needs are at the centre of deciding what kind of care they require. It helps give them every opportunity to lead fulfilling lives.”

In lean times every governing body becomes obsessed by money and the capacity to save it. But there are organisations out there thinking about the quality of care people receive, and how it might actually be improved. Ambition to make lives better, despite austerity. Imagine that.

  • Big Issue Invest is the social investment arm of The Big Issue Group. Since 2005, Big Issue Invest has invested over £30m in more than 300 social ventures, including social care organisations, across the UK. In 2015-2016, Big Issue Invest directly made 60 investments totaling almost £10m
Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

Read All
Malala Yousafzai on taking on the Taliban and why 'storytelling is the soul of activism'
Malala Yousafzai
Activism

Malala Yousafzai on taking on the Taliban and why 'storytelling is the soul of activism'

How Mexico's women hijacked Día de los Muertos to remember the missing and the murdered
The Day of the Dead Women protests in Mexico City in 2021
Activism

How Mexico's women hijacked Día de los Muertos to remember the missing and the murdered

TV legend Carol Vorderman on death, social media and why she's still voice of the opposition
Exclusive

TV legend Carol Vorderman on death, social media and why she's still voice of the opposition

I'm an Israeli who helped survivors of 7 October attack. Here's why we need a ceasefire in Gaza
War in Gaza

I'm an Israeli who helped survivors of 7 October attack. Here's why we need a ceasefire in Gaza

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue