Baroness Casey says nobody is in charge of social care in England

Baroness Louise Casey said nobody is in charge of social care in England, Channel 4 reported. She is leading a government-commissioned review of the sector and said governments had been asleep at the wheel.

Channel 4 reported that a new report commissioned by her team describes a fundamentally fragmented system. Channel 4 reported that responsibility is split between councils and national government. It reported that many councils have tightened eligibility because of cash pressures, so fewer people get their care funded. It reported that what people can get still depends on where they live, the postcode lottery.

Channel 4 reported the case of Annabelle and her adult son Fred, who lives in supported accommodation in Somerset. According to Channel 4, Fred has Down syndrome and autism, and the support and staff are good but the system behind them is broken. Channel 4 reported that Fred rents his room commercially in a shared house of five residents and pays for everything like anyone else. It reported that he is charged £142 a week for support, while Annabelle said friends are charged nothing. She called the system a complete postcode lottery that is implemented differently everywhere and leads to huge financial disparity.

Channel 4 reported that the report describes England as an outlier among comparable nations. According to Channel 4, the report says England gives no help with care costs to anyone with savings above £23,250. Channel 4 reported that the Prime Minister wants to set up a new national care service after the next election and has said fixing current problems could save the NHS billions of pounds a year. Channel 4 reported that the commission will make final recommendations in summer 2027 and that the report warns reform will need political will and bravery.

In an interview with Channel 4, Casey said she had a real sense of hope that Andy Burnham is the prime minister who wants to fix social care once and for all. She told Channel 4 that he is committed to spending political capital on it. She said a national care service for the elderly would be a good start, but that reform must also cover working-age adults and care at home. Asked about residential care costs, she told Channel 4 that the Prime Minister is the first in a long time to put his name against a national care service free at the point of use. She said the residential aspects, including bed and board, had not yet been settled. She told Channel 4 that £39 billion is already spent on adult social care and that some of it is not being spent in the right way. She also said Baroness Hallett's COVID inquiry report had laid bare how people were discharged from hospitals into care homes without a second thought because nobody cares enough about the elderly.