Health Foundation response to Fabian Society report on social care

Responding to the publication today of the Fabian Society’s report to the Labour Party Support Guaranteed: the roadmap towards a national care service, Charles Tallack, Director of Data Analytics at the Health Foundation, said:   

‘The social care system in England is broken and the next government needs to fix it. The Fabian Society is right to call for a stronger national approach to ensuring people have access to high quality care – as well as action to improve staff pay and conditions. Staff shortages in social care are chronic and rates of poverty among care workers are shocking.  

‘But the Fabian Society’s report fudges crucial questions about the reforms needed to give people greater state protection against social care costs. The current system is a threadbare safety-net, with state-funded care only available to people with the highest needs and lowest means. Options for reform are well known – including building on the Dilnot-style ‘cap’ on care costs already legislated for under the Care Act. The missing ingredient is political will.   

‘But no amount of reform will avoid the need for additional investment in social care to recover services and expand the system. In 2021, we estimated that the social care system would need at least an additional £6bn per year by 2030/31 to keep pace with the growing demand for care – with cost pressures likely to have grown. If it chooses to, the next government can afford to provide fairer and more generous care and support for vulnerable people in society.'

Media contact

Creina Lilburne
creina.lilburne@health.org.uk
020 7664 4647 / mobile: 07941 156 827