For VODG, a key highlight of the Prime Minister’s conference speech was the commitment to a long-term and lasting programme for social care reform through the establishment of a National Care Service (NCS).
The announcement built upon the Prime Minister’s earlier statement on social care in July where he confirmed that he would bring forward the date for Baroness Louise Casey’s commission to report back by Summer 2027.
At Conference, the Prime Minister took the Government’s commitments a step further, putting forward an optimistic vision for a social care system that would be free at the point of use, person-centred and focused on care at home. Committing in his speech to securing “maximum national consensus”.
For VODG members, the direction of travel is significant. His speech reflects several of the principles VODG has consistently advocated for especially the vision of a system putting people before profits.
However, there remains significant questions about the finer detail of policy development, the implementation of the service, and how disabled people of all ages, families, carers and voluntary and community organisations would be involved in its design and delivery.
Where the Government and VODG are aligned
There are many areas of the Prime Minister’s speech that reflect core VODG values:
A person-centred National Care Service
The Prime Minister described the proposed NCS as “person-centred”, with a principle of home care wherever possible. A future NCS must put people’s rights, choices, relationships and aspirations at the centre of the system, as well as meeting care and support needs.
Strengthening the social care workforce
In his speech, the Prime Minister described how care workers had been let down by the political class and vowed that they are “not invisible to [him]”.
Given his commitments earlier this year to the Fair Pay Agreement, this reflects VODG’s existing work on raising the profile and value placed on the care workforce. VODG has consistently supported the ambition to improve pay and conditions, while highlighting that improvements must be properly funded and reflected in commissioning arrangements.
A separate, yet supportive, system from the NHS
The Prime Minister’s statement reflected the platform on which a NCS will be founded, “a landmark policy as significant as the creation of the NHS itself, and utterly essential for securing its future”.
VODG has argued that while integration across ‘systems’ is essential, an NCS must be a valued national asset in its own right, an equal partner to health that would close the parity of esteem gap between the NHS and adult social care and strike a balance between national standards and local delivery.
Important questions remain
Sustainable funding
The biggest question following the speech is how the National Care Service will be funded, and how far the Government will go in the portfolio of an NCS.
The Prime Minister said that the NCS would be fully funded and would not be paid for through additional borrowing. He also announced that the triple lock would remain unchanged during the current Parliament but would be adjusted to a sort of “double lock” based on prices or a 2.5% base increase from April 2030, with savings contributing towards the National Care Service.
The detail of the funding model will now need to be developed.
Commissioning
While the detail is still yet to be shaped and will evolve with the publication of the Casey Commission, for VODG members, wider questions of commissioning must be answered.
VODG’s work on commissioning has highlighted the financial pressures facing VCFSE providers, including expectations that providers will absorb increasing costs or supplement statutory funding themselves. Any future NCS must be person-centred, outcomes-based and recognise the full costs of delivering very specialised care and support across the breadth of social care.
The role of VCFSE organisations
The Prime Minister spoke about ‘care that is about people not profit’. This aligns closely to the vision and mission of VODG and our VCFSE members. While surplus that is reinvested into care and support is essential to maintain quality, innovation and staff retention, we have long made the argument that extractive, private profits are harmful to the sector and we welcome the Government’s commitment to reducing this practice not only in social care but across children’s services.
Implications for VODG members
Opportunities
Although much of the detail will be determined through the Casey review and subsequent policy development, several key ambitions are already becoming clear from the Prime Minister’s speech:
- Improved access to care and support.
- Strengthened recognition of social care workers.
- Improved pay, training and progression for the workforce.
- Reduced fragmentation between health and social care.
- Support for more care being delivered in people's homes and communities.
- Reductions in avoidable hospital admissions and delayed discharges.
- Greater financial security for people who currently face significant care charges.
These ambitions broadly align with VODG’s long-standing priorities.
Risks
Many decisions are yet to be made, and while the answers may be revealed later this year and into 2027, key issues remain unsolved:
- A funding model considering the costs on providers delivering care and support.
- A lack of recognition around lifelong disability or specialist support outside of the Prime Minister’s focus on elderly recipients.
- Whether improving national consistency and standards will be at the expense of more personalised support.
- The utilisation of VCFSE organisations as anything less than strategic partners.
- Insufficient involvement of disabled people who will draw on the new system.
VODG’s Response
VODG has welcomed the Government’s commitment to putting social care at the centre of national renewal and the Prime Minister’s recognition of the role of the care workforce in providing essential support, driving innovation and strengthening communities.
His speech provides an important opportunity to build on the work and progress the positive direction of travel the Government have set out, but the detail of how that ambition becomes a reality, and how the Government works with disabled people, families, carers and VCFSE organisations to shape it, will be critical.
Next Steps
As always, VODG will continue to engage with Government, Baroness Casey and stakeholders across the sector and provide opportunities for members to inform this work.
We have already started to bring stakeholders together on how to build a National Care Service that meets the needs of disabled people and invite members to continue sharing their views on this, including those of any lived experience networks you have.
For VODG members, your insights and opinions will be vital as we build on our engagement with Government stakeholders shaping the future of this landmark policy.