Baroness Merron (Lab)

The noble Lord is right to remind us of the challenge of having people in the right place, rather than in hospital when they do not need to be there. We have already taken action, so I am pleased to be able to reassure him that, while the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, will look at long-term solutions for social care, she will present a report within a year from her commencement, which will add to the actions that we have already taken. The noble Lord talked about unpaid carers—and I certainly share the respect that he holds for unpaid carers, so I am very pleased that we have given the biggest boost in income to family carers through eligibility for the carer’s allowance. That has meant an additional —on average, of course—£2,300 a year. That is the biggest boost since carer’s allowance was introduced in the 1970s. We are also legislating for a fair pay agreement, for the first time ever, which will help to tackle the number of vacancies, now standing at 131,000. There will be immediate action, because discharge requires being able to be in the right environment, which might be home but it might need an adaptation. Through the disabled facilities grant there will be a further 7,800 adaptations to homes both this year and next year. So we have taken the immediate action—and, yes, there is a lot more to do.