By David Scott
5 May 2010
Care services for elderly people could cost an extra £300bn across the UK over the next 20 years, members of a Scottish parliamentary committee have been told.
Michael Harris, director of public and social innovation at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, said new approaches to public services would be needed to save money and deal with rising demographic demands.
Harris was giving evidence on May 4 to the Scottish Parliament’s finance committee, which was considering the impact of demographic change on future budgets.
He said: ‘The twin challenges of the short-term demands of saving money [and] the long-term demands coming from demographic change should force us to think about new approaches in public services.’
Asked by committee convener and MSP Andrew Welsh about the scale of resources needed, Harris said: ‘In our reading of research done elsewhere the cumulative figure we’re looking at is around £300bn in extra costs across the UK by about 2030. That is gathered from a number of sources, but pretty respectable sources.’
Ruth Hancock, professor in the economics of health and welfare at East Anglia University, told the committee that financing long-term care was the big issue facing both Scotland and England.
She estimated that the provision of free care in England would be more expensive than in Scotland, where it has been in operation since 1991.
In England, it looked as if there would be a larger contribution to costs for people in central care and a broader definition of care at home, she said.
5 May 2010
Care services for elderly people could cost an extra £300bn across the UK over the next 20 years, members of a Scottish parliamentary committee have been told.
Michael Harris, director of public and social innovation at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, said new approaches to public services would be needed to save money and deal with rising demographic demands.
Harris was giving evidence on May 4 to the Scottish Parliament’s finance committee, which was considering the impact of demographic change on future budgets.
He said: ‘The twin challenges of the short-term demands of saving money [and] the long-term demands coming from demographic change should force us to think about new approaches in public services.’
Asked by committee convener and MSP Andrew Welsh about the scale of resources needed, Harris said: ‘In our reading of research done elsewhere the cumulative figure we’re looking at is around £300bn in extra costs across the UK by about 2030. That is gathered from a number of sources, but pretty respectable sources.’
Ruth Hancock, professor in the economics of health and welfare at East Anglia University, told the committee that financing long-term care was the big issue facing both Scotland and England.
She estimated that the provision of free care in England would be more expensive than in Scotland, where it has been in operation since 1991.
In England, it looked as if there would be a larger contribution to costs for people in central care and a broader definition of care at home, she said.
