THE Archbishops’ Commission on Reimagining Care, reporting two years ago (News, 27 January 2023), called for a change in attitudes to social care. The report was commendable, especially for its call for a National Care Covenant; but social-care providers have had enough of reports: they are at one in calling for action, now, to help older and disabled people, who are being let down by an inadequate system. The report was preceded by nearly 14 years of Conservative government. During that period, providers of social care to adults were obliged to make huge cuts to their budgets: £7.7 billion from 2010 to 2020, and £3.5 billion from 2020 until 2024, according to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care Services. That says a great deal about the outcome of Boris Johnson’s stated ambition, while at No. 10, to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all”. The Labour election victory was welcomed enthusiastically by the sector. After years of seeing the issue languish in the long grass, they hoped to see Sir Keir Starmer’s government, with its overwhelming majority, take action. It is no surprise, therefore, that the sector has reacted with intense dismay to the announcement of Baroness Casey’s independent commission: one that will not report before 2028.

The latest Sector Pulse Check Report by the disability charity Hft (formerly the Home Farm Trust) and Care England shows that waiting until 2028 risks aggravating an already dire situation. A survey of 206 adult social-care providers, representing the care of 128,000 people, found a sector under severe strain and in “survival mode”: 30 per cent of providers said that they had been forced to close parts of their organisations or hand contracts back to local authorities; and one third were considering leaving the social-care market altogether. The chief executive of Hft, Steve Veers, has said that his organisation is willing to work with Baroness Casey’s commission, but “the sector can ill afford a lengthy process to identify the solutions.” It stands “ready to collaborate on practical, immediate measures”. These include: making a commitment to “a credible, multi-year funding settlement for the social care sector when the Spending Review concludes in Summer 2025” and creating “a fully funded roadmap toward parity between care workers and workers in the NHS”.

The Government should heed this advice from those who know the challenges best, and who do not require yet another review to identify the problems and their solution. The Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, has said that the Government is “determined to grip the crisis in social care”; an independent commission would, he said, “bring the political parties together” to resolve the problem. But waiting until the next General Election is on the horizon will make the commission’s proposals a hostage to political skirmishes and dilution, as politicians are tempted to put party before country (they will recall the fate of Theresa May’s “dementia tax”). With great majorities comes great responsibility. The time to act is now, not 2028.