Government announces a Commission on adult social care reform
The government has announced it is setting up an independent commission to recommend long-term reform to adult social care in England. Led by Baroness Casey, the commission will report to the government in 2028 on how it can achieve its manifesto commitment of creating a National Care Service.
Commencing in April 2025, the commission will be in two phases; the first, reporting in 2026, will identify and set out the key issues facing the sector and recommendations for medium-term reform. The second phase, reporting in 2028, will recommend long-term reforms.
Alongside the announcement, the Department of Health and Social Care has pledged a series of other changes to adult social care, including:
- As reported in the Autumn Statement, Increasing the 2024-25 budget for the disabled facilities grant (DFG) by £86m, to £711m, to fund more home adaptations for disabled and older people to enable them to remain independent for longer.
- Skilling up social care staff to carry out more health tasks, such as blood pressure checks, to reduce the need for people to travel to NHS settings.
- Developing a shared digital platform for health and social care to enable staff to share information in a timely fashion.
- Creating national standards and guidance on the use of technology in social care to enable people needing care, families and providers to choose the most effective and safe tools.
- Reforming the Better Care Fund – which pools a portion of NHS and local authority budgets – to focus it on tackling emergency admissions, delayed discharges and admissions to long-term residential care.
Responding to the announcement, care Industry leaders have expressed concern over the timescale for reporting and the pressing need to fix social care now.
The Housing LIN's CEO, Jeremy Porteus, commented:
“We welcome the Casey Commission. And while we are pleased to see the recognition of Disabled Facilities Grants as part of the pledges made, as previous commissions and reviews have identified, housing can play a more significant role. From adaptations and home improvements that facilitate independent living to technology-enabled housing and care influenced by the TAPPI principles and from building new age-friendly housing designed to the ‘care ready’ HAPPI principles to engaging with local communities to develop a range of collaborative models of neighbourhood support, the commission provides an ideal opportunity to coproduce a range of innovative housing with care solutions and take a fully integrated approach to addressing the future care needs of older and disabled adults in a home of their choice. As previously stated by ADASS, every decision about care is a decision about housing.”
The Housing LIN will be following the work of the commission and looks forward to furnishing example of innovative practice, research and evidence that demonstrate how housing contributes to personal care and the benefit to the wider care economy.