Fury as Labour drops cross-party talks to fix social care crisis
Cross-party talks to solve the long-term crisis in social care funding have quietly been abandoned, The Telegraph can disclose.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, repeatedly stressed the importance of working with political rivals to secure consensus when he launched a review into the area in January.
Failure to get cross-party backing for whatever fix Labour eventually outlines could undercut the chance of it ever being implemented, potentially prolonging the funding crisis for families across the country.
A gathering with health representatives from opposition political parties had been scheduled in February but was postponed at late notice.
Now it can be revealed that Baroness Casey, the Whitehall fixer tasked with leading the social care review, has scrapped plans for group cross-party talks on the issue.
Instead, she has written to opposition political parties and asked them to meet her one-on-one rather than together to discuss the challenges in social care.
The approach is markedly different from the one Mr Streeting publicly touted at the start of the year and has led to accusations of walking back past promises.
The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are now demanding the cross-party talks are reinstated, warning there is the 'risk of missing the real opportunity'.
Labour is already facing criticism over delays to tackle the social care crisis, which sees families facing soaring costs for elderly loved ones with little help from the state.
The party fell short of a promise to spell out their solution to the challenges in its election manifesto last year and then ditched the Tory policy of a social care costs cap.
Mr Steering has tasked Baroness Casey with a two-part review but proposals for a long-term solution will not come until 2028 and the peer is still stuck doing a different grooming review.
When Mr Streeting announced the review in early January the press release repeatedly stressed the importance of building a 'cross-party consensus' on social care reform.
Mr Streeting said in an interview at the time: 'We will have cross-party talks next month. And I'm really encouraged by the fact that since the election, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and Reform have all said that they want to work across-party on this, and those talks will begin next month.'
Edward Argar, the Tory shadow health secretary, said: 'The decision by the Health and Social Care Secretary to scrap the cross-party talks he'd promised, and switch to an independent commission, holding individual conversations with parties runs the risk of missing the real opportunity to make the cross-party progress this issue needs, and the British people deserve.'
Rachel Reeves 's spending review allocated £4 billion extra to adult social care in 2028 compared to 2023, but councils have warned a long-term fix is needed.
A spokesman for the Casey Review indicated that the cross-party talks could be revived at a future date but gave no specifics.
They said: 'Baroness Casey has made initial contact with political parties and looks forward to working with them.
'She intends to initially meet party spokespeople individually to understand each party's position. She will bring colleagues from across the political divide together in due course.'
A Health Department spokesman said: 'Baroness Casey's independent commission into adult social care, which started in April, will start a national conversation, build cross-party consensus and provide recommendations for a social care system that is fair and affordable for all.
'As the commission is independent, Baroness Casey and her team are taking forward arranging discussions with political parties.'
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Another amendment, requiring ministers to report within a year of the Bill passing on how assisted dying could affect palliative care, was also approved by MPs. Previously, a High Court safeguard was dropped, with the oversight of judges in the assisted dying process replaced with expert panels. The change was much criticised by opponents, who said it weakened the Bill, but Ms Leadbeater has argued it strengthens it. At the end of a weeks-long committee process earlier this year to amend the Bill, Ms Leadbeater said rather than removing judges from the process, 'we are adding the expertise and experience of psychiatrists and social workers to provide extra protections in the areas of assessing mental capacity and detecting coercion while retaining judicial oversight'. 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It had 'not been possible' to estimate the overall implementation costs at this stage of the process, it added. While noting that cutting end-of-life care costs 'is not stated as an objective of the policy', the assessment estimated that such costs could be reduced by as much as an estimated £10 million in the first year and almost £60 million after 10 years. – Do healthcare staff have to take part in assisted dying? It was already the case that doctors would not have to take part, but MPs have since voted to insert a new clause into the Bill extending that to anyone. The wording means 'no person', including social care workers and pharmacists, is obliged to take part in assisted dying and can now opt out. Amendments to the Bill were debated on care homes and hospices also being able to opt out but these were not voted on. Ms Leadbeater has previously said there is nothing in the Bill to say they have to, nor is there anything to say they do not have to, adding on the Parliament Matters podcast that this is 'the best position to be in' and that nobody should be 'dictating to hospices what they do and don't do around assisted dying'. – What will happen next? Friday's vote in the Commons makes it more likely for the assisted dying Bill to become law, now that it has the backing of a majority of MPs. But this is not guaranteed, and first it must continue on a journey through Parliament. The Bill now heads to the House of Lords, as both Houses of Parliament must agree its final text before it can be signed into law. During the next stages, peers are expected to put forward amendments to the Bill. If the Commons disagrees with these amendments, this will spark a process known as 'ping pong' which will continue until both Houses agree over its text. – Will the Bill definitely become law? 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Jersey's parliament is expected to debate a draft law for an assisted dying service on the island for terminally ill people later this year. With a likely 18-month implementation period if a law is approved, the earliest it could come into effect would be summer 2027.
