Recommendations from a newly launched commission into social care will be “doomed to failure” unless the true cost of inaction in the sector is set out, MPs have warned.
The Health and Social Care Committee said there needs to be a “robust financial case” laid out for reform, to support the moral case, which it said has “never been stronger”.
The report comes just days after the formal launch of the Casey Commission into adult social care.
Led by Baroness Louise Casey, the independent commission will comprise of two phases which are aimed at leading to the “transformation” of a sector which has long been said to be in need of reform.
Low pay for workers, a reliance on unpaid family carers and high costs for those in need of care are among the issues facing the sector.
In their report, published on Monday, MPs said £32 billion was spent on adult social care in the year to March 2024, and that there is “unsustainable pressure” on local authorities amid the “high price for a failing system”.
The MPs set out what they described as various “unaccounted-for costs of inaction”, including some two million people aged 65 and over as well as 1.5 million people of working-age not getting the care they require.
They warned of the “unknowable, and potentially life-changing” charges for care people face, including one in seven older people with costs exceeding £100,000.
The report said 1.5 million unpaid carers are providing more than 50 hours of care weekly, with many having to cut hours or quit jobs entirely as a result, while care workers remain underpaid and twice as likely to be claiming benefits as other workers.
The MPs also warned that local authority budgets are “buckling under the pressure of adult social care” and the care provider market is “in distress” as it struggles to cover costs including underfunded recent increases in the National Living Wage and National Insurance.
But the report concluded that the Government “does not have a robust understanding of the extent of the current system’s failings” or good quality data on the outcomes of delivering high quality care.
The MPs said: “Without this, it will be unable to make a clear case for reform.”
The Casey Commission’s first phase is due to report next year, but the recommendations set out from that initial investigation into the sector are to be “implemented in a phased way over a decade”.
Voices within the sector have raised concerns over this potential timeline of 2036 for some reforms to be introduced, branding it disappointing and adding that it will be “far too late” for many older people in need of care now.
The second phase of the commission, setting out longer-term reforms, is due to report by 2028.
All recommendations “must remain affordable”, the Government has said, “operating within the fiscal constraints of Spending Review settlements for the remainder of this Parliament”.
The health and social care committee has called on the Government to commission research to fully quantify the cost of doing nothing on adult social care reform – including costs to unpaid carers, care workers, councils, care providers, the NHS and the overall economy.
This, which just include non-monetary personal costs, such as the impact on individual wellbeing, should be completed before the Casey commission’s final report “to enable a full cost-benefit analysis of any recommendations she puts forward”.
The MPs added: “The moral case for reform has never been stronger, but this must be accompanied by a robust financial case. Without this we fear that the reforms that come out of the Casey Commission will be doomed to failure, leaving everyone continuing to suffer under the current unsustainable system.”
Committee chairwoman Layla Moran said social care is rarely discussed as a driver of economic activity but that it has “enormous potential” to contribute to the Government’s wider aims for economic growth and employment.
She said: “In our inquiry, we heard that an investment of £6.1 billion would provide full economic benefits of £10.7 billion – a return on investment of 175%.”
Repeating the report’s findings in relation to what Government should do alongside the current commission into social care, Ms Moran added: “Unless the Government measures the true cost of inaction and can make a convincing case to the Treasury, the recommended reforms that come out of the Casey Commission will be doomed to fail.
“We want this report to change the narrative on social care, and to act as a catalyst for building a strong and long-lasting case for reform. It might seem that reforms will be costly and difficult, but continuing with inaction will cost us all more.”
Care minister Stephen Kinnock said: “We are grateful for the committee’s work and will respond formally in due course.
“Far from inaction, this Government has hit the ground running on social care. We inherited a social care system in crisis and took immediate action with our Plan for Change – with a funding boost of up to £3.7 billion, an extra 15,000 home adaptations for disabled people, a £2,000 uplift to Carer’s Allowance, and the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for care workers.
“A lot has been done, but we know there is so much more to do and deep reform is needed. That’s why we appointed Baroness Louise Casey to lead the independent commission working to transcend party politics and build consensus on the future of adult social care, with her first report out next year.”
The Liberal Democrats said “delay is no longer an option” and that there could not be a “starker contrast” between the Government’s approach and the committee’s findings.
Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem social care spokesperson, said: “Now it has been laid out in black and white that inaction is untenable, the Government must see sense and approach social care reform with the urgency it demands.
“To do anything less would be an affront to taxpayers who are currently footing this monstrous bill for a broken system which then only too often fails them in their time of need.
“People cannot be expected to pay for the privilege of their own suffering any longer.”
