30th July 2026
“It’s great news that Andy Burnham has chosen to start his premiership by prioritising adult social care reform which has been neglected for so long.
Baroness Louise Casey’s Big Conversation on Care is a key opportunity for the voices of working-age adults with learning disabilities and autistic people to be heard.
We all recognise the longstanding social care access and funding challenges for older people. But adult social care provides essential support for a much broader population. More than 1 in 3 people who receive publicly funded long-term care are between the ages of 18 to 64. And this number has risen every year for the last four years.
It was also refreshing to hear the Prime Minister acknowledge the skilled nature of the country’s 1.5 million care and support workers and pledge to improve training and career progression as a priority.
The PM mentioned the government’s £500m Fair Pay Agreement, which we welcome. However, the allocated £500m won’t be enough to make a real difference to the pay packets of care and support workers.
Clearly, national government needs to adequately fund councils so they can afford to pay for the real cost of care and support in adult social care.
This funding should be ring-fenced at a local authority level so that providers can meet the ever-increasing costs of support. Large disparities persist between local authorities, with the highest-paying councils offering fee rates two to five times more than the lowest.
For adults with learning disabilities and autistic people, these decisions are not abstract. Underfunded care and support means missed opportunities to live independently, longer stays in hospital, and an ever-increasing level of unmet need.”