Thousands more people with disabilities will be supported to remain in their homes thanks to immediate action government is taking to improve adult social care, support the care workforce and take pressure off the NHS, the government has announced today (Friday 3 January).
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting will confirm a £86 million boost to the Disabled Facilities Grant for this financial year – on top of the £86 million announced for next financial year at the Budget, taking the annual total to £711 million – to allow 7,800 more disabled and elderly people to make vital improvements to their home, allowing them to live more independent lives and reducing hospitalisations.
Alongside the funding, the government’s immediate action to support adult social care also includes harnessing the power of care technology to transform care and support older people to live at home for longer, cutting red tape to ensure billions of joint NHS and social care funding is keeping people healthy and taking pressure off the NHS, as well as improved career pathways for care workers and new national standards to ensure providers and families use the best care technology.
Care workers will be better supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, meaning people can receive more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings. The national career structure for care staff will also be expanded, ensuring there are opportunities for career progression and development pathways. Upskilling carers will not only help boost morale and the retention of care workers, but it will also lead to improved outcomes for patients.
The government will develop a shared digital platform to allow up-to-date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff, including when someone last took their medication, to ensure people receive the best possible care.
The changes announced today will support the adult social care sector to give people the best possible care in the most appropriate place. It will also deliver on the government’s Plan for Change by reducing the amount of time patients spend in hospital.
Alongside immediate steps to ease pressure on the sector and improve support for care workers, the government is also kickstarting work on the necessary long term reform to overhaul social care and address the inherited challenges it faces. As set out in the manifesto, this deep reform will include the creation of a National Care Service underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country. As a first step, the government will launch an independent commission into adult social care to be chaired by The Baroness Casey of Blackstock DBE CB, to inform the work needed to deliver this.
The commission, reporting to the Prime Minister, will work with people drawing on care and support, families, staff, politicians and the public, private and third sector to make clear recommendations for how to rebuild the adult social care system to meet the current and future needs of the population.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“In the first six months of this government, work has already begun on stabilising the care sector, investing in prevention, and in carers and care workers. The investment and reforms we’re announcing today will help to modernise social care, get it working more closely with the NHS, and help deliver our Plan for Change.
“But our ageing society, with costs of care set to double in the next 20 years, demands longer term action.
“The independent commission will work to build a national consensus around a new National Care Service able to meet the needs of older and disabled people into the 21st century.
“I have written to opposition parties to invite them to take part in the commission’ work, and asked Baroness Louise Casey to build a cross-party consensus, to ensure the national care service survives governments of different shades, just as our NHS has for the past 76 years.
“We are appointing one of our country’s leading public service reformers, and Whitehall’s greatest do-er, to finally grasp the nettle on social care reform.”
Split over two phases, the commission will set out a vision for adult social care, with recommended measures and a roadmap for delivery.
The first phase, reporting in mid-2026, will identify the critical issues facing adult social care and set out recommendations for effective reform and improvement in the medium term.
It will recommend tangible, pragmatic solutions that can be implemented in a phased way to lay the foundations for a National Care Service. The recommendations of this phase will be aligned with the government’s spending plans which will be set out at the Spending Review in the spring.
The second phase, reporting by 2028, will make longer-term recommendations for the transformation of adult social care. It will build on the commission’s first phase to look at the model of care needed to address our ageing population, how services should be organised to deliver this, and how to best create a fair and affordable adult social care system for all.
Opposition parties have been invited to take part in the commission, with the aim of building a cross-party and national consensus on the responsibilities the state and individuals have for social care, how to meet the rising demands caused by an ageing population, and how best to structure the National Care Service.
Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock said:
“Millions of older people, disabled people, their families and carers rely upon an effective adult social care system to live their lives to the full, with independence and dignity.
“An independent commission is an opportunity to start a national conversation, find the solutions and build consensus on a long-term plan to fix the system. I am pleased the Prime Minister has asked me to lead this vital work.”
Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock said:
“Previous attempts to reform adult social care have failed due to a destructive combination of party political point-scoring and short-term thinking.
“Baroness Casey’s commission will build cross-party consensus, and will lay the foundations for a National Care Service that’s rooted in fairness and equality. It will tackle both the immediate issues and the fundamental challenges that must be addressed if we are to get our adult social care system back on its feet and fit for the future.
“The Casey Commission is a once in a generation opportunity to transform adult social care, and to ensure that everyone is able to live with the dignity, independence and quality of life that they deserve.”
This plan will help to reduce pressures on the NHS. The uplift in the Disabled Facilities Grant will help to ensure that disabled and elderly people live more independently at home for longer. By improving integrated care, we can keep people out of hospital when they do not need to be there and make sure that when they do need hospital care, they are discharged as soon as they are medically fit to leave, with support to recover.
Separately, the government will shortly publish a new policy framework for the Better Care Fund in 2025/26. The framework has been developed collaboratively between the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and local government and will support local systems to deliver integrated health and social care in a way that supports patients and delivers better outcomes.
The new framework will focus £9 billion of NHS and local government funding on meeting two health priorities – moving care from hospital to the community and from sickness to prevention. It will cut red tape for the NHS and local authorities, but will also hold local leaders accountable for improving care. They will be expected to make improvements on emergency admissions, delayed discharges, and admissions to long-term residential care.
NHS Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard, said:
“A long-term solution for social care is absolutely critical as we build an NHS that is fit for the future through the 10 Year Health Plan, so we really welcome the additional investment to services as well as the independent commission into social care.
“Social care has a huge impact on the NHS, with thousands of people in hospitals who are medically fit for discharge the current strain the sector is under has significant consequences for both NHS productivity and performance, so we hope this vital action plan and commitment to create a National Care Service will both help better support people and ease pressure on hospital wards.”
The commission, which is expected to begin in April 2025, will form a key part of the government’s Plan for Change which will turn around health and care services, starting with cutting waiting lists and coupled with reform so they are fit for the future.
The immediate actions to support the social care sector set out today and the work of the commission also comes alongside the government’s work to establish the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for care professionals, which we have already introduced legislation for.
Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK said:
“With 4.7 million unpaid carers in England who are the backbone of care within this country, we very much welcome this announcement. Adult social care is desperately in need of reform and a sustainable future. Families are under intense pressure and providing more care than ever before, many going without breaks, putting their own health at risk and having no choice but to give up work to care.
“Good quality and affordable adult social care is critical to the lives of million of unpaid carers and their families providing care, helping them to juggle work and care, return to work, and protect their health and wellbeing. We look forward to engaging with Baroness Casey and the Independent Commission to ensure carers’ voices are heard loud and clear and to set out the cross-Government support that unpaid carers need.”
Kathryn Smith, Chief Executive at Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), said:
“With its aim of building cross-party consensus for a future National Care Service, the Casey Commission has the potential to end decades of gridlock and deliver a lasting settlement that will change the lives of people who draw on care and support for the better.
“We look forward to contributing to the Commission’s work, including sharing our ideas and good practice examples for improving access to care, adopting new care models and raising quality standards.
“Harnessing and scaling innovation will be crucial to navigating the current challenges facing social care as well as future-proofing the system for the long-term. This includes addressing the growing demand for social care and people’s evolving care needs, tackling longstanding workforce challenges, and finding a fair and sustainable way of financing social care.”
