The Secretary of State for Social Rights has reached this Thursday, January 14, at the Social Dialogue Table on Personal Autonomy and Dependency, an agreement with business and trade union organizations for the development of the Shock Plan and the promotion of the System for the Autonomy and Attention to Dependency.
The Table for Social Dialogue on Personal Autonomy and Dependence began its work in July 2020, and since then it has been holding regular meetings in whose conversations CEOE, CEPYME, CCOO and UGT have participated, together with the Secretary of State for Social Rights. From the outset, both the representatives of the General State Administration and the Social Partners have shown a clear will to reach an agreement on an issue as important as the improvement of the Dependency Care System.
The agreement reached by the Government and the Social Partners includes an increase in the financing of the SAAD by the General State Administration of at least 600 million euros for this year 2021, which includes an increase in the amounts from the minimum level of 17 , 4% and recovery of the agreed level.
The aforementioned agreement establishes priority objectives for the improvement of the SAAD for the coming years, among which are particularly noteworthy to substantially reduce the waiting list and the processing times for applications; ensure that the working conditions of the people who work in the SAAD are adequate; and introduce improvements in services and benefits that guarantee adequate care for dependent persons, preferably through quality professional services.
At the same time, the commitment is acquired that the Social Dialogue table agrees to proposals for the revision of the Accreditation Agreement for SAAD centers and services, which will be sent for consideration by the Territorial Council. This review will include improvements that reinforce the quality of services; the working conditions of the people who work in them; as well as the adoption of the necessary measures to comply with quality standards, including the possible increase in concert prices linked to the improvement of quality standards in care and employment.
The agreement reached also contemplates that throughout 2021 the professional figure of the Personal Assistant will be regulated, and that at the end of 2022, all dependents with a recognized degree who live at home will have access to the telecare service, which will pass to be considered a "subjective right" linked to the condition of dependency.
