Social care reform – once more into the breach?

The government has announced the launch of a new commission to reform adult social care in England.

The announcement made on 3 January 2025 follows confirmation in the Autumn budget that implementation of the lifetime cap on social care costs will not proceed in October 2025 as proposed by the previous government (link to previous article Community care charging reform - Wrigleys Solicitors LLP).

The new independent commission will now take forward the government’s manifesto pledge to create a National Care Service for England, setting out recommendations to address the current failings within social care.

The commission’s work will be split over two phases, with the initial phase identifying critical issues facing the system and proposing solutions. This phase is due to report in 2026.

The second phase (expected to report in 2028) will set out a long-term vision for social care, building on the foundations from phase one.

Whilst the intention to build cross-party support has been welcomed by many within the sector, the lack of any concrete reform to social care funding and provision continues to affect the lives of millions across the country. Social care in England has been the subject of a multitude of commissions, White and Green papers which have wrestled with the thorny issue of reform with mixed results. It remains to be seen whether this latest commission will deliver the much-needed improvements in social care which have been elusive for decades.

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The information in this article is necessarily of a general nature. The law stated is correct at the date (stated above) this article was first posted to our website.

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