Professor Catherine Needham comments on the health and social care secretary saying the commission to reform social care will not be finalised until 2028.
“Wes Streeting’s announcement that the new social care commission will not report until 2028 is disappointing for two reasons.
First, we know the issues and potential reform options already. Reforms to deal with rising demand for social care have already been pored over by several commissions, reviews and inquiries. All of the routes to improving quality, capacity and affordability in social care are expensive and potentially unpalatable to the Treasury. One of these options must be chosen, but there is no need to go back to first principles and spend three years coming to a conclusion.
Second, the timing of 2028 is politically risky. Since so much work has been done on the policy options already, the priority is to get the politics right. Whilst a commission with cross-party support might seem like a step in the right direction, 2028 is too near the next general election. A cross-party recommendation for e.g. tax rises will fall apart rapidly as an election approaches. We know that funding reforms for social care have been seen as vote losers for parties in previous elections. Reform needs to be attempted when the government’s political capital is at its highest, i.e. in the first two years after an election.
Funding reform for social care has been passed into legislation twice in recent years (in 2014 and 2021). Both times it has been abandoned due to concerns about the political risks of introducing new tax or national insurance liabilities. Political courage is needed to hold the line and ensure that a new set of proposals is implemented, and that courage needs to come soon.”
Professor of Public Policy and Public Management
School of Social Policy
Staff profile for Catherine Needham, Senior Lecturer, Public Policy and Public Management, School of Social Policy and Society at the University of Birmingham.
