Councils’ role in a reformed adult social care system
At its best, adult social care helps ensure that people can pursue the things that matter most to them.
Yet we, as councils, know first hand that so often the system is unable to be the best it can.
More than two million requests for adult social care were made to councils in England in the past year alone, with subsequent services and support costing nearly £25 billion.
With a system that is too often hard to navigate and is experiencing workforce shortages alongside significant long-standing funding issues, it is clear there is a strong need for system reform that is rooted in prevention and personalised care to secure a sustainable future for all of us.
As the largest commissioners of adult social care in England, local authorities are a central part of this future. Any reform of the current system will depend on local government leadership, capacity and legitimacy.
This is why we are launching a series of conversation events on the role of local government in a future system of adult social care.
This will help ensure that we build a strong, clear and collective response to the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care chaired by Baroness Casey.
Councils, frontline workers, sector stakeholders and people who draw on care and support, are strongly encouraged to share their views on six key questions at the heart of the debate about the future of the sector, including responsibility, commissioning and oversight, health and care integration, deliverability, and sustainability.
The LGA is hosting a series of online and in-person conversation events during February and March where local authority voices can have their say on the future of adult social care and how we can best support people to live the lives they want to lead.
This is our chance to ensure the voice of local government is heard and fed directly into the Casey Commission and government thinking.
The voice of lived experience has long been vital to our work on adult social care, so we will be engaging closely with people who draw on care and support.
The main channel for people to share their thoughts and views is on our online conversation platform, available on the LGA’s website at the link below. Here, local authority and sector voices can share anonymously their first-hand experience, local knowledge and understanding of the challenges and opportunities in adult social care.
Nearly all of us will need to draw on adult social care at some point in our lives or have a loved one who does.
This engagement process is therefore about ensuring local government has all it needs to enable people who draw on care and support to live the independent and dignified lives they want to in the places they love.
Everything is in scope, and nothing is off the table. So, I strongly encourage all councils to take part in this process – and encourage their local partners to do the same – so we can shape a strong and clear response to the Casey Commission together. I look forward to our conversations and to working together at this pivotal moment.
- Our first online event is on 25 February. To find out more, sign up and share your views, please visit our website.