Health committee report into social care ignores a role for the financial services industry – Mazars

The Government has missed a trick in dealing with the UK’s long term elderly care issue, according to experts at Mazars in Birmingham.
 
Partner Glen Jones said: “The Health Select Committee report into the recent inquiry into social care, released this week, stubbornly ignores the role that the financial services industry can play into solving the UK’s long term elderly care issue.
 
“The Committee has surprisingly chosen to take an anti-financial services view in its report which is very disappointing.
 
“For example, the committee has decided to overlook whether long-term care should be offered as part of a pension arrangement, which we believe could be a viable option for many people.
 
“We recognise that there clearly isn’t one simple answer to the problem of making sure people provide for their care late in life. We know that many people simply don’t want to think about getting old and the corresponding need for long term until it’s too late.
 
“But we believe that the provision of a cap on care costs, as recommended in the Dilnot report, would stimulate the financial services industry in the UK to develop meaningful products that could help to reduce the considerable funding gap in social care services.
 
“It’s paramount that the government works with the financial services industry to discuss and explore ways to help solve the issue of funding long-term care in the UK.”