The Care Workers’ Charity (CWC) has today published a landmark report summarising key insights from a series of roundtable discussions on the future of adult social care in England. Held in November 2024, these discussions brought together care workers, people drawing on care, unpaid carers, care providers, commissioners, and advocacy groups to examine the challenges facing the sector and ideas for reform.
The report outlines key priorities for reform, including the need to elevate the status of care work, ensure sustainable funding, and embed the voices of care workers and those drawing on care at the heart of decision-making. Any transformation must be properly resourced to be effective. Participants also called for a wider national conversation on how society values care, ensuring that reforms move beyond crisis management towards a system that supports dignity, autonomy, and fulfilling lives.
Among the core themes highlighted in the report:
- Centering Care Voices – Social care reform must be shaped by those most directly impacted: frontline care workers, people drawing on care, and unpaid carers. Their voices must be at the heart of decision-making.
- Workforce pay and conditions remain a critical issue, with strong support for a £15 per hour minimum pay standard, career development pathways, and better training opportunities.
- Professionalisation of the sector, with calls for a national registration system and professiona body for care workers.
- Funding reform is essential, with a need for multi-year financial settlements and equaitable commissioning practices to ensure sector stability.
- Social care must be recognised as a distinct sector, working alongside, but not secondary to, the NHS.
- Addressing structural inequalities within social care, ensuring equitable access and working conditions for all.
Karolina Gerlich, CEO of The Care Workers’ Charity, said: "This report is a call to action. Now could be a turning point for social care, but only if it is backed by sustained investment and shaped by those on the frontline. Our roundtable discussions demonstrated the urgent need for reform – not just in funding, but in how we value care as a society. This is about creating a system that works for care workers, for people drawing on care, their friends, family and wider community now and for the future.”
The report represents a starting point for further consultation and advocacy, with The Care Workers’ Charity committed to ensuring that care workers, people drawing on care, and unpaid carers remain central to shaping the future of social care.
