Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to bring forward long-awaited social care reform, announcing a faster timetable for Baroness Casey's independent review, cross-party talks on a National Care Service and a renewed focus on transforming the care workforce.
The announcements, made on 29 July, were accompanied by the launch of Baroness Casey's Big Conversation on Care, a nationwide engagement exercise designed to gather views from people who draw on care, unpaid carers, professionals and the wider public.
Responding to the announcement, sector leaders welcomed the renewed commitment but stressed that improvements for the workforce must not be delayed.
Eammon Price, CEO of Flourish, said: "Social care reform has been promised for years, so bringing the review forward and starting cross-party talks is welcome. But care workers need to see things changing before 2027."
He pointed to Flourish's latest survey of 15,000 care workers, which found that more than one in three are dissatisfied with their pay.
"The Fair Pay Agreement is an important step, but it must be properly funded and form part of a wider plan for the workforce," he said. "People need good training, proper support and a clear route to progress."
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) also welcomed the Prime Minister's commitment. Gerard Crofton-Martin, Interim Chief Executive at SCIE, said: "The Prime Minister's recommendation to bring forward the Casey Commission's final report to 2027 is a welcome step."
He added that the Big Conversation must put people with lived experience at the heart of reform. "Reform can't be effective if it's removed from the realities of people with lived experience; it must instead recognise and respect their invaluable expertise and place them at the centre of all conversations and decisions."
The Care Workers' Charity described the announcement as a landmark moment for the sector. Karolina Gerlich, Chief Executive, said: "This is the moment we have campaigned for. A Prime Minister has finally said out loud that you cannot build a National Care Service, or care for the people we love, without the care workforce."
The charity welcomed the commitment to fully funded workforce reform, noting that its latest research found 72% of care workers do not feel financially secure, almost one in four have used a food bank and 37% often consider leaving the profession.
Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE, Associate Director of Think Local Act Personal (TLAP), said the success of the reforms would ultimately be judged by people's everyday experiences rather than new structures or policies.
"The true test of reform will not be the number of reports published, policies announced or structures created," he said. "It will be whether, on an ordinary Thursday morning, people experience greater choice, control, dignity and confidence that the right support will be there when they need it."
