Catherine McDonald Articles

Last week the government announced new plans for social care funding. Responding to Andrew Dilnot’s recommendations, Jeremy Hunt set a cap of £75,000 on people’s contributions to the costs of their care, and raised the ‘asset threshold’ to £123,000. It means that from...

Andy Burnham set out a bold vision for an integrated physical, mental and social care system as he launched Labour’s health and care policy review yesterday. He said he wanted to change the terms of the debate, from technical discussions about commissioning and...

Nine-year-old Martha Payne’s school dinner blog got more attention than she expected, after Argyll and Bute council tried to stop her posting photos of her lunches. Over six million people have now read the blog, which rates her food in terms of healthiness, how much...

Southwark’s Labour council is bringing in a pioneering £3m Youth Fund – to help young people stay in education and get a job. Young people tell me the goal posts have moved. They have played by the rules – worked hard at school, got their grades. They expected – and...