Sir Keir Starmer’s backing for reform of social care will be “absolutely critical” if much-needed change is to be made, a key figure has said.
Sir Andrew Dilnot described it as “blindingly… bleedin’ obvious” that something should be done in an area which remains “pretty invisible”.
The economist, who was the architect of plans for a care costs cap more than a decade ago, welcomed the fact that a newly announced commission would be “another chance to try to raise this set of issues up the agenda”.
Sir Andrew Dilnot said the need for reform in social care is blindingly obvious (Fergus Burnett/ONS)
But he insisted it should not take three years to produce a final report and recommendations, suggesting it is “perfectly feasible” for the Government to set out by the end of this year what it is going to do.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting last week announced an independent commission, led by Baroness Louise Casey, will begin in April, but the Government confirmed that a second phase, making long-term recommendations, might not report until 2028.
Sir Andrew branded this an “inappropriate length of time” and too close to an election.
He said a decision on a major issue like this “ideally is made in the first half of a parliament because otherwise events get in the way”.
Mr Streeting has said the 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”.
It will be split over two phases with the first, reporting to Sir Keir in mid-2026, looking at the issues facing social care and recommending medium-term reforms, and two years later reporting from its second phase.
Appearing before the Health and Social Care committee on Wednesday, Sr Andrew said: “I think it’s perfectly, perfectly feasible for the Government to expect… by the end of 2025 to say, ‘actually, we know what needs to be done, this is what we’re going to do’.
“That’s perfectly feasible. We understand the challenges, we understand what the options are. It’s really a matter of political courage and political decision making.”
Sir Andrew led a review into the future of funding social care and published his proposals in 2011.
But despite Dilnot-style reforms having been accepted by previous governments, they have yet to be enacted.
Labour faced criticism last summer for scrapping plans for an £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England would need to spend on their personal care over their lifetime, having argued the proposals were not “deliverable” in the timeframe.
Sir Andrew told MPs: “I think it’s so blindingly – excuse my language – bleedin’ obvious that something should be done here that, in the end, in an intelligent, affluent, civilised society, we get this done. To be absolutely blunt I think the critical thing here will be the Prime Minister.”
He added that “to get something like this done a prime minster has to be committed to it”.
He said: “I think Sir Keir’s views will be absolutely critical in this and if the Prime Minister gets behind this then something, I think, will happen.
“So I am optimistic. I’m always vague about timescales but we will get this done and we must because how can we look ourselves in the mirror and not deal with this?”
He described social care as “exceptionally important” and said it has “extraordinarily significant impacts” on people’s lives.
He added: “But somehow social care is still pretty invisible.”