Cost of inaction on social care reform to be scrutinised as MPs launch inquiry

By Aine Fox, Reporter4th November 2024News EnglandAdult Care, Business / Funding / Finance, Government / Politics, Local Authorities, News England, Social Care, Top Stories

The cost of a lack of action on social care reform is the subject of a newly-launched inquiry by MPs.

The Health and Social Care Committee said it will look at how much inaction is costing the NHS and local authorities and the knock-on effect on patients and the public.

It will also consider what contribution the sector makes to the economy and how any cost of inaction is felt if people feel the need to stop or cut their working hours as they wait for care or become full time unpaid carers.

The committee will also look at the extent to which the costs of inaction are considered by the Government when evaluating policies, including within the Budget and Spending Reviews.

Committee chairwoman Layla Moran (pictured) said: “Our social care system is in crisis. Over the years there have been many reviews and proposals, but successive governments have failed to tackle the problems, because they think reforms cost too much.

“But this ongoing inaction has a cost. No one is talking about the costs we are all accepting by not reforming the system. A cost to patients and their families, a cost to the NHS, a cost to our local authorities, and a cost to the wider economy and the Treasury.

“This inquiry will investigate just how much the ongoing inaction on social care reform is costing us all.”

Last month, the Local Government Association (LGA) described the sector as being “under significant strain” after its latest survey of councils found “thousands of vacancies and mounting costs”.

A 2023 report from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) found that nearly a quarter of a million people in England were waiting to have their care needs assessed by the end of that summer.

Skills For Care, the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, has estimated that more than half a million extra roles in social care will be needed in the next 15 years to keep up with demand, while the vacancy rate in social care remains at around three times the national average of other economic sectors.