SOCIAL CARE AND THE NATIONAL AUTISTIC SOCIETY

That this House views both the shocking abuse witnessedin the Winterbourne View case and the collapse of Southern Cross as indicative of areas of the care system being in crisis; re-emphasises the urgent need for the Government to prioritise investment in social care, a sector hugely important for both those suffering ill health, injury, or disability in communities, but also for local and national economies; believes that there is a desperate need to create and maintain a sustainable, fully-funded and fair social care system, especially for people suffering from autism and other similar conditions in relation to which a recent survey conducted by the National Autistic Society exposed the fact that two-thirds of adults with autism were not getting the support they needed; and calls on the Governmenturgently tobring forward before 2012 a White Paper in line with the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission about the reform of social care, which would raise the means test level to 100,000, create a national system of eligibility and assessment, put in place measures to relieve any short-term crisis in social care funding and sustainably increase funding for care and support in the long-term.