Last Updated on January 3, 2025

Investment and reforms to improve adult social care have been announced alongside an independent commission to build cross-party consensus. The Baroness Casey of Blackstock DBE CB has been appointed to head the commission.

The Health and Social Care Secretary has confirmed an £86m addition to the Disabled Facilities Grant for this financial year, on top of the £86m announced for next financial year at the Budget, taking the annual total to £711m. According to Government, this will allow 7,800 more disabled and older people to make vital improvements to their homes.

Alongside the funding, care workers will be supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, prompting more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings. The national career structure for care staff will also be expanded, creating opportunities for career progression and development pathways.

Government will also develop a shared digital platform to allow up-to-date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff, including when someone last took their medication, to support the delivery of high-quality care.

Lastly, Government has reiterated its commitment to create a National Care Service underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country. As a first step, Government will launch an independent commission into adult social care to be chaired by Baroness Casey, to inform the work needed to deliver this.

The commission, reporting to the Prime Minister, will work with people drawing on care and support, families, staff, politicians and the public, private and third sector to make clear recommendations for how to rebuild the adult social care system to meet the current and future needs of the population.

Split over two phases, the commission will set out a vision for adult social care, with recommended measures and a roadmap for delivery. The first phase, reporting in 2026, will identify the critical issues facing adult social care and set out recommendations for effective reform and improvement in the medium term. The recommendations of this phase will be aligned with Government’s spending plans which will be set out at the Spending Review in the spring.

The second phase, reporting by 2028, will make longer-term recommendations for the transformation of adult social care. It will build on the commission’s first phase to look at the model of care needed to address the country's ageing population, how services should be organised to deliver this, and how to best create a fair and affordable adult social care system.

Government has invited opposition parties to take part in the commission, with the aim of building a cross-party and national consensus on the responsibilities the state and individuals have for social care, how to meet the rising demands caused by an ageing population, and how best to structure the National Care Service.

Separately, Government has announced that it will shortly publish a new policy framework for the Better Care Fund in 2025 to 2026. The framework has been developed collaboratively between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and local government and will set out to support local systems to deliver integrated health and social care in a way that supports patients and delivers better outcomes.

The new framework will focus £9bn of NHS and local government funding on meeting two health priorities, moving care from hospital to the community and from sickness to prevention. According to Government, it will cut red tape for the NHS and local authorities, but will also hold local leaders accountable for improving care. They will be expected to make improvements on emergency admissions, delayed discharges and admissions to long-term residential care, Government states.

Commenting on the newly-announced reforms and independent commission, Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said, 'In the first six months of this Government, work has already begun on stabilising the care sector, investing in prevention, and in carers and care workers. The investment and reforms we are announcing today will help to modernise social care, get it working more closely with the NHS, and help deliver our Plan for Change.

'But our ageing society, with costs of care set to double in the next 20 years, demands longer-term action. The independent commission will work to build a national consensus around a new National Care Service able to meet the needs of older and disabled people into the 21st century.

'I have written to opposition parties to invite them to take part in the commission’s work, and asked Baroness Louise Casey to build a cross-party consensus, to ensure the National Care Service survives governments of different shades, just as our NHS has for the past 76 years. We are appointing one of our country’s leading public service reformers, and Whitehall’s greatest do-er, to finally grasp the nettle on social care reform.'

Michelle Corrigan, Director of Digital Care Hub said, 'Digital Care Hub welcomes the early focus on technology and data sharing in the Government’s plans to transform adult social care. We know that tech and access to up-to-date digital records improve both the quality and efficiency of care. Today’s announcement builds on recent progress with record numbers of care providers now using digital technology.

'As the provider-led body supporting the sector with tech and data sharing, we look forward to working with the Department of Health and Social Care on these crucial developments. We will continue to put the case that the cost of introducing, implementing and maintaining digital tech must be factored in to the commissioning of care services. It is a business necessity – not an optional extra.'

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, said, 'This announcement acknowledges the decade-long crisis in social care, but it risks becoming yet another report that gathers dust while the sector crumbles. Care providers are doing their utmost to deliver essential care to society's most vulnerable, yet the challenges they face only keep increasing. While the sector has demonstrated resilience, its repeated calls for help have been ignored, as the Government continues to prioritise reforming the NHS to achieve goals only a fully functioning adult social care system could deliver.

'This commission will simply confirm what we already know, how many more reports must we endure before action is taken? The harm caused by the Government’s inaction is already deep, and the consequences for those who currently draw on care will be irreparable if immediate intervention is not forthcoming. Waiting until 2028 is not an option. The people in care today cannot afford to wait any longer – their lives depend on action now. By the time this commission will conclude, any recommendations will likely be delayed until a new Parliament is in place, risking not just a missed opportunity to support individuals now, but potential for a shift in priorities that could leave the sector without the action it so desperately needs.

'We are ready to work alongside Baroness Casey and the Government to turn this commission into a catalyst for genuine change. But let’s be clear: the status quo is no longer an option. Every day without action means more vulnerable people are left without the care they urgently need now, while the already overwhelming pressures on the NHS continue to intensify. This isn’t about politics; it is about people, and we need the Government to act now. Together, we can fix social care, but we must start today, not tomorrow.'

Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association, said, 'The announcement of an independent review of adult social care marks a potentially important step in addressing the significant challenges facing the sector. New funding for adult social care is positive, we are pleased to see that more people will be supported in their homes through more investment in the Disabled Facilities Grant.

'For this process to succeed, the review must deliver bold and actionable recommendations, backed by a firm commitment to provide the substantial funding needed to turn those recommendations into reality. The full potential value of this work will only be realised if local government, people drawing on care and support, and other parts of the sector, are fully involved and engaged. This review provides a vital opportunity to create a system that works for everyone, and we are ready to collaborate with the Government and partners to achieve this goal.'

Professor Vic Rayner OBE, Chair of the Care Provider Alliance (CPA), said, 'The announcement of the Casey Commission is a welcome step in the move towards developing a fully functioning National Care Service. It is hoped that Baroness Casey will be able to move quickly to engage those receiving care and support, their families, the care workforce, those providing and commissioning social care as well as the wider public.

'For this to be the once in a generation shift needed, then all political parties and wider partners need to start from an understanding that the findings of this review lay out a long-term blueprint for change. Social care matters to us all and this commission must lay to bed the prevarication and delay of both funding and reform that has bedevilled governments over too many years. With this in mind, the commission must move at a more rapid pace.

'We call on the commission to bring forward its timetable to allow for real change to happen within a two-year time frame. Work on the long term must not distract the Government from the very real challenges facing social care right now. The CPA published detailed analysis in November 2024 outlining the critical pressures facing the sector, and it is essential that these issues are addressed now to ensure a sustainable social care sector exists for the future.'

For more information about the newly-announced reforms and independent commission to transform social care, visit GOV.UK

In other news, more than one in five people aged 50 and over in England are living in homes that could be making existing health conditions worse. This is according to new analysis from the Centre for Ageing Better.