Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock used a major speech to local government leaders today to warn that we must resist the temptation to attempt major reform of adult social care without first having an honest debate with the public about the hard choices involved.
Speaking at the Local Government Association Conference in Bournemouth, Baroness Casey set out how England does not currently have a functioning ‘system’ of adult social care, but instead a patchwork of services that has evolved over decades without a clear plan or public mandate.
Drawing on evidence gathered by the Casey Commission over the past year, she described a country under mounting strain from an ageing population, rising levels of disability, a withdrawing health service and increasing demand from working-age disabled adults, alongside fewer older people receiving support.
She argued that previous attempts at reform have failed because they have either tinkered with parts of the system or tried to push through bigger changes without securing public consent for the tough choices involved.
She will warn that continuing down this path risks repeating a cycle of review, delay, and crisis. Baroness Casey instead set out her plans to have an honest, tough conversation with the public about what social care is for, who it should support, and what people should expect from the state and contribute in return.
Baroness Casey of Blackstock said:
“We cannot keep pretending that a few tweaks will fix adult social care or attempt major reform without the public’s backing.
“That means having a proper conversation with the public about who social care is for, what the state should provide, what families can reasonably be expected to do, and what we should all contribute in return.
“Without that honest conversation with the nation about the difficult choices involved, we will be back here again and again.”
The Casey Commission will launch a national conversation with the public later this summer. It will engage with hundreds of thousands of people across the country through bringing together representative groups of the public, letting people have their say online and speaking directly to people who get care and support.
The speech builds on Baroness Casey’s earlier call for a ‘reckoning’ on adult social care and comes ahead of the Commission’s phase one report which will be published later this year.
