Baroness Louise Casey launches public consultation on England's adult social care funding

Baroness Louise Casey, who heads an independent commission into adult social care in England, announced a nationwide public consultation. The review will ask the public who should receive social care and how it should be funded, focusing on older people who are "too often ignored or overlooked" and younger adults who feel they may not receive value for any contributions they make.

Casey described the existing system as "impossible" to navigate and called for a "reckoning" on funding after the government scrapped a lifetime cap on care costs. She said the NHS has increasingly moved away from community care, leaving families to shoulder unsustainable responsibilities. The commission will test the views of hundreds of thousands of citizens and will also consider the role of the NHS in future care provision. While a publicly funded "National Care Service" is being discussed, all options remain on the table. The commission began work last summer, aims to publish its main report this year with recommendations for a National Health and Care Service, and will produce a second phase report on long‑term funding by 2028.