Affinity Trust responds to the Prime Minister's commitment to social care reform

As a charity supporting people with learning disabilities, autism, mental health needs, physical disabilities and other complex needs, Affinity Trust welcomes and supports the Prime Minister's recognition that social care reform can no longer wait. This follows clear calls from across the sector for the Casey Commission to report sooner, so that long-overdue reform can begin in earnest.

The Prime Minister's comments, including his recognition that the NHS cannot succeed without reforming social care and his ambition to build a more preventative state, are encouraging. It is right to acknowledge that social care is fundamental to the nation's health and prosperity. However, it is equally important that social care is not viewed solely through the lens of reducing pressure on hospitals. Its purpose is far greater than that.

Good social care enables people to live good, ordinary lives. For the people we support, it means having a home, building meaningful relationships, participating in their communities, developing skills, contributing through work or volunteering where possible, and making informed choices about the support they receive. When people receive the right support at the right time, they are healthier, more independent and better able to achieve the lives they choose, while also reducing the need for more intensive interventions elsewhere in the public sector.

For too long, however, social care has faced mounting pressures. Successive governments have promised reform, yet meaningful change has repeatedly been delayed. Providers, local authorities and charities have continued to deliver high-quality support despite rising demand, workforce shortages and short-term funding arrangements, but the current system is not sustainable. We see every day both the transformative impact that high-quality, person-centred support can have and the consequences when investment falls short, with opportunities lost, inequalities widened and people prevented from living full and independent lives.

The direction of travel set out by the Government is positive, but this moment must now be matched by sustained action, long-term investment and genuine engagement with the people who draw on support, their families, providers and commissioners. Reform must also recognise and value the social care workforce, whose skill, compassion and commitment make high-quality support possible every day.

As the Government develops its plans, we believe reform should focus on four key priorities:

• Putting people at the heart of decision making through genuine co-production with people who draw on support, their families and support workers.
• Investing in prevention and community-based support, recognising that good social care improves people's lives while reducing pressure on the NHS and other public services.
• Creating a sustainable funding and commissioning model that enables providers to invest confidently in quality, innovation and long-term improvement.
• Delivering a long-term workforce plan that recognises, values and rewards the professionalism of social care colleagues.

The Prime Minister has spoken about building a country that invests in people's success rather than paying for failure. That ambition can only be realised if social care is recognised as an essential public service and given the long-term attention, funding and policy focus it deserves.

At Affinity Trust, we stand ready to work constructively with Government, commissioners, partners across the sector, and most importantly people who draw on support and their families, to help shape reforms that enable people to live the lives they choose.