Public Law Specialist Gives Views On Plans To Improve Care

A public law expert at Irwin Mitchell has said that new measures announced in the Queen’s Speech to overhaul the social care system highlight the urgent need for improvements and called for bold changes to current services.

The proposals unveiled today (May 9th) are expected to lead to changes which will improve levels of support for elderly and disabled people, with a view to ensuring they are able to gain more control over their care.

In addition, a key aim is to ensure that law in relation to social care can be simplified and clarified from the current position, with social care law made up of a confusing patchwork of interrelated legislation and case law..

Irwin Mitchell’s specialist Public Law team have vast expertise in the area of social care and have acted in a number of high-profile cases in which disabled and vulnerable adults have challenged local authorities over the provision of services.

Mathieu Culverhouse, a solicitor in Irwin Mitchell’s Manchester office who specialises in the area, said: "The social care system could certainly do with some urgent attention to aligning the myriad pieces of legislation.

“However, more importantly, the system of funding social care needs urgent attention - otherwise cases of poor and underfunded social care packages will continue to be placed before the High Court for attention.

“The Dilnot proposals, which include a 'cap' on social care funding and pooled risk,  represent a bold and innovative approach which could well save the taxpayer more money in the medium term and support disabled and vulnerable families to fund and plan their care provision."