The Health and Social Care Committee published its report: ‘Adult Social Care Reform: the cost of inaction’.
The report argues that while the costs of reforming adult social care are often highlighted, insufficient attention is paid to the substantial costs of not reforming the current system. The Committee's inquiry sought to challenge the government to understand the full financial, economic, personal, and opportunity costs of the current situation, concluding that these costs are significant and likely outweigh the cost of reform.
Key findings include:
- There are significant levels of unmet care needs, estimated at 2 million people aged 65+ and potentially 1.5 million working-age people. Reasons include lack of awareness, concern about costs, waiting lists and limited local authority resources leading to care rationing.
- The adult social care system is means tested, and the upper asset threshold (£23,250) has not risen with inflation since 2010/11, meaning fewer people benefit from state support.
- The amount of care provided by unpaid carers is increasing due to the lack of affordable, reliable social care, forcing families to fill gaps. The economic value of this unpaid care was estimated at £184.3 billion in 2021–22, equivalent to a "second NHS".
- Care workers are often undervalued and underpaid. Their median hourly rate is just above the NLW. 1 in 5 residential care workers live in poverty, and 20% drew on Universal Credit/legacy benefits (2017-2020).
The Committee concluded that the cost of doing nothing on adult social care reform is high across individuals, carers, the care system, the NHS, and the economy. However, there is a lack of robust, granular data on these costs, making it difficult to quantify the full impact. The government has two months to respond to the report.
