Brutal reality Ingredients Adrien Brody shines in 2025’s first must-see movie Review, page 25
PROUD VOICE OF OUR COMMUNITY 9 January 2025
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9 Tevet 5785
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Issue No.1401
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for success Julian Metcalfe on making fast food healthier P30
@JewishNewsUK
‘Emily’s just like a normal girl again’
Assessing six months of Starmer
Thomas Hand on daughter’s recovery from hostage ordeal Interview, see page 4
Jewish community warns Labour still has a long way to go Special report: See pages 6-7
Concern grows over social care reforms
Jewish charities sound alarm on three-year wait The community’s leading social care charities have expressed concern about the extended time period set by the government to address the need for significant reforms in the sector, writes Lee Harpin. Health secretary Wes Streeting last week announced the launch of a historic independent commission to reform adult social care, warning older people could be left without vital help and the NHS overwhelmed unless a “national consensus” was reached on fixing a “failing” system. An interim report will be delivered in 2026, but he final report is not expected until 2028. Norwood’s chief executive, Naomi Dickson, responded to the government’s announcement, telling Jewish News: “While we welcome the renewed commitment by the government
to addressing the significant challenges in the social care sector, most notably the real cost of funding care now and in the future, we are concerned about the protracted timeline for further reviewing where the issues lie. “Social care providers such as Norwood are under more pressure than ever, and the prospect of another distant report provides little clarity or direction for us as we look to pivot to ensure we can continue to provide quality care for the people we support, while faced with meeting increased costs of up to £2m a year as a result of National Insurance rises.” Jewish Care’s chief executive, Daniel Carmel-Brown, told Jewish News: “It’s imperative the Government garners cross-party support for long-term change and the commission is a vehicle to do this, and therefore avoids
Wes Streeting at Jewish Care’s 2024 dinner
successive governments abandoning policies. A plan for social care reform has been a concern for the whole sector and for wider society
for many years. We had hoped to see national consensus on the issue of long-term funding for social care and the provision of additional funding to local authorities for adult and children’s social care for many years. “Jewish Care believe that we have created a model that demonstrates how a partnership between the state, communities and families can work successfully. We have offered to be part of any future discussions on models of social care and funding to share our model and expertise in this area with decision-makers on how to resolve the growing crisis in social care, with increasing costs for providers. It is currently unsustainable.” A task force, led by the cross-bench peer Louise Casey, will now be charged with developing plans for a new national care service.