I was very pleased that Surrey County Council voted today to push the government to agree the Dilnot proposals for paying for adult social care.  For at least 15 years, politicians at the top of all three political parties have been saying that it is wrong that elderly people are forced to sell their homes to pay for care and that a better system should be found.  After the last general election, the coalition asked Andrew Dilnot to investigate and make suggestions on how it could be done.  His recommendation was that the amount any one person pays should be capped at £35000 and that the upper level of savings which people can hold before they have to pay the full cost should be raised.  If this was how care was charged for, people would be able to take out an insurance policy to protect themselves from having to sell their homes.   He reported that to the government in July 2011 but they have still not done anything about it.

Today I asked Surrey County councillors to tell the government that they need to get on with it.  The Conservatives made a couple of small amendments to the Motion I raised but the whole council supported it.  Now that message has to get through to government ministers.