Independent Commission on Adult Social Care

Lord Young of Cookham Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Young of Cookham]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress has been made by the Independent Commission into Adult Social Care.

[Baroness in Waiting/Government Whip (Baroness Blake of Leeds) (Lab)]

The independent commission has begun its work on how to build a social care system fit for the future and will first report in 2026. The noble Baroness, Lady Casey, is a trusted independent figure who will involve political parties and the public to build a national consensus around the future of social care. As the commission is independent, it is for the noble Baroness and her team to provide further updates on their progress in due course.

[Lord Young of Cookham (Con)]

My Lords, we have had the Sutherland report, the Wanless report and the Dilnot report; your Lordships’ House has produced three Select Committee reports on this subject in the past few years; the Health and Social Care Committee in another place has produced 10 reports in the past eight years; the Public Accounts Committee has produced four reports; not to mention reports from the Care Quality Commission, the Nuffield Trust, the King’s Fund and the National Audit Office. Frankly, asking the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, to produce another report by 2028 is a cop out. The noble Baroness can work at pace. She recently reported on grooming gangs, and the Home Secretary said she had produced

“a hugely wide-ranging assessment in just four months”.—[Official Report, Commons, 16/6/25; col. 26.]

Should she not be invited to produce a report outlining options by Christmas? That would free the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, to deal with some of the other challenges facing the Government.

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

My Lords, I think the answer is partly in the question. There have been so many reviews and inquiries, but none of them has come forward and got total ownership from across the House; that is part of the problem. All the work that has been done through those reports will be built on. I would never underestimate the noble Baroness, Lady Casey. It has been my great privilege to work with her for decades. She was responsible for introducing ASBOs for troubled families, as noble Lords may recall. This situation is complex. It needs to be tackled in depth. There are things that can been done quickly, which she will address, but it is critical that we let her do the work and use her skills to reach consensus, which, frankly, has been so plainly missing in all the work that has been attempted in the past.