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Baroness Casey: successive governments “asleep at the wheel” on social care

Baroness Casey: successive governments “asleep at the wheel” on social care

Published 11 November 2026

  • External research published by the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care lays bare England’s chaotic care system
  • Baroness Casey, chair of the Commission, also writes to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry agreeing with its recommendations for social care and saying the events set out in the Inquiry’s report are a cause of national shame
  • The news comes as Baroness Casey delivers a speech to social care leaders at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Liverpool

Baroness Casey will today (11 November) set out and respond to findings of new research showing how no one is in charge of England’s adult social care sector.

The research on the governance of social care, written for the Commission by the Nuffield Trust and the Institute for Government, shows England is an international outlier. Compared to comparable countries like France, Germany, and Japan, it has no clear ‘system stewardship’ for social care.

She has also written to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. In her letter, she shares her horror at the Inquiry’s findings on how care workers and those they cared for were an “afterthought” during the pandemic, calling this a national shame.  She agrees with the Inquiry’s recommendations for social care and says the government can act on them now.

Speaking at the National Children and Adult Services Conference today, Baroness Casey is expected to say:

“The Covid-19 Inquiry took apart the argument that a “protective ring” had been thrown around care homes during the pandemic. Many old people died without their loved ones by their side. Many care workers left their jobs after what they had seen.

“It is a national shame that this was allowed to happen. It should never happen again.

 “Successive governments have been asleep at the wheel. In research we’re publishing today the lack of ‘stewardship’ of social care comes through clearly. No one is in charge.

“Together, we can build a new settlement for care. One based on values I still believe this country shares: decency, contribution, and a duty to care for our neighbours, our loved ones and ourselves.”

The research published today was commissioned by the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care and written by experts at the Nuffield Trust and the Institute for Government. It sets out how England’s social care system was never deliberately designed like the NHS was in the 1940s. Baroness Casey says it was instead built in increments and accidents, resulting in:

  • A social care sector dominated by private providers in what the research describes as a “largely uncontrolled and unintended way”. Previous Nuffield Trust research described the Care Quality Commission’s role as being like a “spectator at the site of a car crash.” 
  • Two people with the same condition having different experiences depending on where they live: different assessment processes, different waits, and different levels of support. 
  • People paying for their own care being charged, on average, 40 per cent more for the same service than people for whom care is arranged by their council.
  • More than 1.5 million social care workers across around 19,000 employers, but England being the only country in the UK without a mandatory register of care workers. 

It is part of a series of research reports into England’s adult social care sector that will be published by the Commission. The research helps to inform the work of the Commission, which will make its final recommendations to government in summer 2027.

Read the research by the Nuffield Trust and Institute for Government on governance in social care here.

Read Baroness Casey’s letter to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry here.

Notes to Editors:

  • The Independent Commission on Adult Social Care will outline what a National Care Service should look like. It will publish its final report in summer 2027. In the meantime, Baroness Casey has provided the government with recommendations regarding strengthening adult safeguarding and the treatment of dementia and motor neurone disease. Her letter to the Department of Health and Social Care can be found on the Commission website.
  • The research published today complements the Big Conversation on Care, which is the national conversation on the future of adult social care led by the Commission. The online platform will reopen in December with a new set of questions that build on the last, giving the public another opportunity to take part. Further updates will be shared on the Commission’s website. The public can continue to take part in the meantime, including by emailing their views to the Commission.