WHAT'S NEW? SOCIAL CARE REFORM MOVES FORWARD AS SECTOR DEMANDS ACTION FOR WORKFORCE


The government has brought forward its timetable for long- awaited social care reform, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirming that Baroness Casey’s independent commission will report next summer and announcing a renewed focus on transforming the care workforce.


The government also wants to build cross-party support for a future National Care Service, while Baroness Casey has launched the Big Conversation on Care – a nationwide engagement exercise intended to give people who draw on care, unpaid carers, care professionals and the wider public a direct role in shaping the future of adult social care.


The Big Conversation will run until April 2027, with the Casey Commission expected to make its recommendations by summer 2027. It aims to engage up to one million people across England on questions including who should receive support, what families should reasonably be expected to provide and how care should be funded.


The Prime Minister said reform must include better pay, training, career progression and job security for care workers, arguing that social care and the NHS should be viewed as part of a single, integrated workforce.


The announcements have been welcomed by sector organisations, although there are calls for improvements to the workforce to happen sooner rather than waiting for the wider reform programme.


Eammon Price, CEO of Flourish, said: “Social care reform has been promised for years, so bringing the review forward and starting cross-party talks is welcome. But care workers need to see things changing before 2027.”


He pointed to Flourish's latest survey of 15,000 care workers, which found that more than one in three are dissatisfied with their pay.


“The Fair Pay Agreement is an important step, but it must be properly funded and form part of a wider plan for the workforce,” he said. “People need good training, proper support and a clear route to progress.”


The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) also welcomed the acceleration of the Casey Commission.


Gerard Crofton-Martin, Interim Chief Executive at SCIE, said: “The Prime Minister's recommendation to bring forward the Casey Commission's final report to 2027 is a welcome step.”


He added that the Big Conversation must put people with lived experience at the centre of reform. “Reform can't be effective if it's removed from the realities of people with lived experience; it must instead recognise and respect their invaluable expertise and place them at the centre of all conversations and decisions.”


The Care Workers' Charity described the announcement as a landmark moment for the sector.


Karolina Gerlich, Chief Executive, said: “This is the moment we have campaigned for. A Prime Minister has finally said out loud that you cannot build a National Care Service, or care for the people we love, without the care workforce.”


The charity welcomed the commitment to fully funded workforce reform, noting that its latest research found that 72% of care workers do not feel financially secure, almost one in four have used a food bank and 37% oſten consider leaving the profession.


For Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE, Associate Director of Think Local Act Personal (TLAP), the success of reform will ultimately be judged by the difference it makes to people's everyday lives.


“The true test of reform will not be the number of reports published, policies announced or structures created,” he said. “It will be whether, on an ordinary Thursday morning, people experience greater choice, control, dignity and confidence that the right support will be there when they need it.”


With the Big Conversation now underway, the focus will increasingly turn from whether social care should be reformed to what a future system should actually look like – and how quickly meaningful improvements can be delivered for the people who rely on care and the workforce supporting them.


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