Social care tsar condemns 'failed' system… but Burnham's promised change might not come for a decade

Andy Burnham's social care tsar has condemned the 'failed' system as she accused successive Governments of being 'asleep at the wheel'.Baroness Louise Casey delivered the brutal verdict as she published research laying bare the 'fragmentation' of provision in England.She insisted a new settlement can be found based on 'decency, contribution and a duty to care for our neighbours, our loved ones and ourselves'.Lady Casey welcomed Labour's suggestion that the state pension triple lock could be watered down to free up funding. However, proposals from the Whitehall troubleshooter's review are not expected to emerge until next year. And the PM has indicated that an NHS-style social care system might not be up and running until the middle of the 2030s. In a speech to a gathering of social care leaders in Liverpool, Lady Casey will point to the Covid Inquiry's conclusion last month that the sector was 'an afterthought' and had not been protected in the pandemic. Baroness Louise Casey delivered the brutal verdict as she published research laying bare the 'fragmentation' of provision in EnglandThe peer is telling the National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC): '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.'A report, commissioned by Lady Casey's team and carried out by the Nuffield Trust and the Institute for Government think tanks, concluded adult social care in England is currently 'a complex system where responsibilities are spread between central government departments and across a range of arm's-length bodies; between national and local government; and between government and a vast array of non-public sector providers'.It added: 'Decision-making processes can be opaque and a single point of responsibility for overall oversight and stewardship is lacking.'The consequences of this complexity and lack of clarity were highlighted during the Covid-19 crisis, and while that event forced some positive change, there remains a fundamentally fragmented system that lacks a coherent sense of direction.'The report points out that while more than 1.5million social care staff work across around 19,000 employers, England is the only one of the UK's four nations with no mandatory register of care workers.The current make-up of the sector means private providers 'dominate' in a pattern that has 'emerged in a largely uncontrolled and unintended way'.Unlike NHS care, social care is not free at the point of use and high costs sometimes mean people are forced to sell their homes to pay for what they need.People with savings worth more than £23,250 are not entitled to help with the cost of care from their local council.The report warned of 'poor transparency' around fees paid to and charged by providers, with people who have to pay for their own care charged, on average, 40 per cent more for the same service than people whose care is arranged by their council.The report stated that social care reform 'requires political will and bravery to make the choices necessary to create a new national care service', warning that the 'prominence and level of priority' given by Mr Burnham must be maintained.Mr Burnham announced his intention to downgrade the triple lock at Labour conference.The Government said taking the step after the next election could save £15billion a year in cash terms by 2039-40. Andy Burnham committed to overhauling social care at Labour conference this Autumn - but not until after the next electionBut in interviews the PM suggested that implementation might need to wait until the funding comes through.Asked by Sky News if tax rises would be required to raise more money, he said: 'No, because there's a different way of doing it. If you delay the date of introduction and you introduce a national care service progressively.'Mr Burnham argued that his pledge 'allows preparation to start now for a national care service'.Lady Casey said of the triple lock move: 'I felt that was a very significant win for adult social care, and particularly to develop a service for the people that I feel we're not spending enough money on, we're not delivering enough services to, which is a new service, really, an additional service for the frail and for the elderly.'