By Cllr Jason Brock
Next Thursday, May 5, is election day in Reading. As such, I’m entirely certain that you’ve all had leaflets through your letterbox and perhaps even knocks on your door from rosetted candidates.
Understandably, local elections are dominated by what we would call universal issues – the Council services that everyone, in one way or another, accesses. Consequently, we get less time to talk about the targeted services like social care.
This is a shame, because the delivery of social care services is probably the most life-changing and life-enhancing thing that Reading Borough Council does. It’s also around two-thirds of the annual budget, so enormous in scale.
As a unitary council responsible for all local government services (so no split with a county council as in many other parts of England), we are able to take a more holistic approach to social care, thinking carefully about how housing and planning can best complement delivery of care.
Nevertheless, there are huge challenges coming down the track – especially owing to the impact of the pandemic, demographic change (we’re all getting older), and reforms to the structure of the NHS and how it works with councils.
In that challenging context, I’m pleased that Reading Labour are investing in social care services, putting an additional £5 million into the adult budget next year and an extra £1 million into children’s services.
It’s testament to our prudent approach to finances that we’ve been able to make such an investment when it’s most needed, but the sustainability of such services in the medium- and long-term relies on reformation of the funding model nationally. Even now, we’ve had many promises from Government but still no meaningful action.
What makes me really proud, then, is that your Labour councillors have been able to step-up when the Conservatives continue to prevaricate on a vital matter. Rather than sit on our hands and wait for change, we’ve pushed forward transformation ourselves.
We’re working to promote new ways of delivering care services here in Reading that enhance individual independence. By setting ourselves the task of fostering a personal carer market in the town, and by making simple technologies more accessible to people, we’re beginning to give residents more freedom in making choices about their own care.
It’s an ambitious and long-term project, but some of the results are already very positive.
At the same time, we know that specialised housing provision is needed. Since we know that sheltered and extra-care housing can help people to be more independent and avoid full residential care, we’re investing in building new stock in Reading.
And to help those new communities be properly sustainable, we’ve been strategic in where we build these homes so that local services are readily accessible.
None of these innovations is to the detriment of ‘traditional’ care and, in fact, they reduce the pressure on such provision. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve worked with residential care homes to ensure they have the support they need and will continue to do so. We also fund our voluntary and community sector to ensure that services they are best placed to provide continue to be delivered.
When you go to vote on Thursday, do think about the fact that only Labour in Reading have a comprehensive strategic for social care in the town.
You may not use such services now, and some of us may only need indirect or short-term support at some point in our life. But almost all of us will, one day or another, have a loved one or a close friend who requires substantial support.
We want Reading to be a great place to not only grow up, but a great place to grow old too.
Cllr Jason Brock is leader of Reading Borough Council, and a Labour candidate for Southcote ward
