The Government is to establish a national safeguarding board and accelerate dementia trials in response to some “simple asks” from Baroness Louise Casey, Chair of the Independent Commission into Adult Social Care.
In her first public address as the commission’s chair, Baroness Casey said the country faces a “moment of reckoning” on adult social care, with the current system “cobbled together” and councils “hollowed out by years of austerity and funding cuts”.
Cllr Louise Gittins, LGA Chair, said: “Baroness Casey is right to recognise the need to elevate the true value and purpose of care and support nationally. It is encouraging that she has strongly signalled for this to be a core foundation behind her proposals for the sector’s future.
“A focus on safeguarding people who draw on care and support is vital to creating a prevention-focused and person-centred system. There is a strong role for local government in ensuring that people’s rights under the Care Act 2014 continue to improve.
“Sustainable resourcing remains key to successful system reform.”
The LGA is engaging with councils, the care workforce and people with lived experience through its ‘Care where we live’ conversation series on the future of the adult social care system. A series of regional and online consultations will culminate in an LGA Smith Square Debate on 25 March, while the LGA’s consultation closes on 27 March.