Baroness Louise Casey will accuse successive governments of being “asleep at the wheel” on adult social care as new research commissioned by the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care concludes that the sector lacks clear stewardship.
Speaking at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Liverpool today, Commission chair Baroness Casey is expected to say that findings published by the Commission show that “no one is in charge” of England’s social care system.
Research produced for the Commission by the Nuffield Trust and the Institute for Government found England is an international outlier, with no clear system leadership for social care when compared with countries including France, Germany and Japan.
The report warns the sector has evolved through “increments and accidents” rather than through a planned national system, resulting in wide variation in access, oversight and funding.
Baroness Casey is expected to say that “successive governments have been asleep at the wheel.
“In research we’re publishing today, the lack of ‘stewardship’ of social care comes through clearly. No one is in charge.
She is expected to add that she “still believes” that England has shared values of “decency, contribution, and a duty to care for our neighbours, our loved ones and ourselves” and that “together, we can build a new settlement for care”.
The research warns of significant structural challenges across the sector, including variation in assessment processes and support levels between local authority areas.
It also reveals that people funding their own care pay an average of 40 per cent more for the same services than those receiving council-funded care.
Researchers also point to a fragmented workforce landscape, with more than 1.5 million care workers employed across around 19,000 organisations, while England remains the only UK nation without a mandatory register for care workers.
Covid inquiry response
Alongside the research findings, Baroness Casey has written to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry backing its recommendations for social care and describing the treatment of care workers and care recipients during the pandemic as “a national shame”.
In her conference speech, she is expected to say: “The Covid-19 Inquiry took apart the argument that a ‘protective ring’ had been thrown around care homes during the pandemic.
“Many old people died without their loved ones by their side. Many care workers left their jobs after what they had seen.
“It is a national shame that this was allowed to happen. It should never happen again.”
The report forms part of a wider programme of evidence gathering by the Casey Commission ahead of its final recommendations to government towards the creation of a National Care Service, now expected in summer 2027 after the timetable was accelerated by Andy Burnham shortly after he became Prime Minister in the summer.
