Petition urges PM to stop cuts to adult social care

More than 150,000 people have signed a petition calling for urgent action to fix the system that provides care for older and disabled people.

The petition urges Prime Minister Boris Johnson ‘to end swingeing cuts’, with the signatories saying that more than 1.4 million people aged over-65 in England have been left without the support they need.

Johnson pledged to ‘fix the crisis in social care once and for all’ on the steps of Downing Street as part of his first speech as Prime Minister. Although he said that his government has prepared ‘a clear plan’ to action this, the letter calls for: a plan with cross-party involvement; a long-term financial settlement; short-term money to shore up services this year; and support for a wider range of people.

Alongside the petition, a letter has also been sent to Downing Street, signed by 40 health leaders, warning that adult social care cuts have a knock-on effect on the NHS.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which has organised the letter and petition, said: “The level of distress being experienced by hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people and their carers is now much greater and on a wider scale than at any time in living memory. This is a crisis and it has to be urgently addressed. We welcome the Prime Minister’s early commitment to find a solution. As our petition shows, the public recognise the human cost of inaction and they want this resolved. Successive governments have failed to address this issue – the new Government has a chance to put this right.”