We would like the government to consider social care as equally important to NHS
The Parliament petitions site records 44,984 signatures for this petition, which closed on 24 September 2020. The Government responded on 20 April 2020. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 25 June 2020.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
We would like the government to consider social care as equally important to NHS
We would like the government to support and regard social care: financially, publicly and systematically on an equal par as NHS. We would like parliament to debate how to support social care during COVID-19 and beyond so that it automatically has the same access to operational and financial support.
Practically, there is parity of position between health and social care: Social care employs more people than health, is intrinsically community based and supports a large number of the population. However, there is a significant lack of parity of esteem between the two. The government’s recent early response to the COVID-19 and the March 2020 budget was exemplary of this lack of parity. This includes the pay and rewards of staff, professionalisation, funding, training and political discourse.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 20 April 2020; the petitions site lists the Department of Health and Social Care as responsible. Its summary:
Social care provides vital support. We are providing councils with additional funding and supporting the workforce in responding to COVID-19 and will bring forward a plan for social care this year.
The opening 356 words of the 789-word response:
We know that social care will be at the frontline of our response to COVID-19 with social care providers looking after many of the most vulnerable in society.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the NHS and social care system have the resources they need.
COVID-19 presents one of the most significant challenges our society has faced. The disease disproportionality affects those who are most vulnerable, and adult social care services are critical to the nation’s response.
We look to local authorities to continue to work with the health sector to ensure people are cared for in the most appropriate setting.
On 19 March, the Government announced that £1.3bn would be made available to the NHS to cover care costs for those being discharged from hospital under new enhanced discharge arrangements.
A further £1.6bn has been provided to councils to support the local response to COVID-19, of which we think the majority will need to be spent supporting social care services. This funding is being kept under review. The COVID-19 funding is in addition to the £1.5billion that councils have access to for adults and children’s social care in 2020-21, announced in the last Spending Review.
This includes an additional £1bn of grant funding for adults and children’s social care, and a proposed 2% precept that will enable councils to access a further £500 million for adult social care.
This £1.5 billion is on top of maintaining £2.5bn of existing social care grants and will support local authorities to meet rising demand and continue to stabilise the social care system.
Future funding for social care will be set out at the next spending review.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning social care services as they are best placed to understand and plan for the care needs of their populations, and to develop and build local market capacity. That is why under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to shape their local markets, and ensure that people have a range of high-quality, sustainable and person-centred care and support options available to them, and that they can access the services that best meet their needs.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 265, came from Isle of Wight.
44,830 of the signatures were from the UK and 154 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Isle of Wight | 265 |
| Plymouth, Moor View | 202 |
| Garston and Halewood | 191 |
| Lincoln | 191 |
| Mansfield | 188 |
| Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport | 181 |
| Liverpool, Walton | 180 |
| South Shields | 180 |
| Knowsley | 176 |
| Jarrow | 173 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| North West | 6,492 |
| South East | 5,954 |
| South West | 4,719 |
| East Midlands | 4,156 |
| London | 3,893 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 3,646 |
| Scotland | 3,529 |
| East of England | 3,394 |
| West Midlands | 2,925 |
| North East | 2,648 |
| Wales | 2,056 |
| Northern Ireland | 412 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 25 June 2020. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/302897.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
4d25287ec4a1857e… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.