Social care is back at the centre of government — but carers and families need funded action, not another round of promises.

Social care has spent years being described as a crisis, a priority and a problem that must finally be solved. During July 2026, however, there have been signs that the subject may be moving closer to the centre of government policy. The new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has promised to accelerate work towards a National Care Service, plans for the first adult social care Fair Pay Agreement have progressed, and the government has expanded its national career framework for care workers. There has also been movement on support for unpaid carers. But alongside those announcements came figures showing that thousands of people are still being pushed into Carer's Allowance debt, while a major Care Quality Commission report exposed considerable variation in the support provided by local authorities. There is progress to welcome. There is also a great deal that still needs to change. A RENEWED PROMISE TO REFORM SOCIAL CARE Burnham has said that he intends to accelerate plans for a National Care Service and is prepared to invest political capital in tackling a problem that successive governments have failed to resolve. He has long argued that care should be treated as a shared social responsibility, with access provided on a basis closer to the NHS rather than leaving individuals and families exposed to unpredictable and potentially devastating costs. The ambition is important. Social care urgently needs a sustainable funding model, better integration with health services and greater consistency across the country. But the most difficult question remains unanswered: How will it be paid for? A National Care Service would require significant long-term investment. It would also need to address the fragmented nature of the current system, the role of private providers, pressure on local authorities and the conditions under which care workers are expected to work. Promises of reform have been made before. What carers, families and people drawing on care now need are firm proposals, transparent funding and a realistic timetable. The country does not need another vision that quietly disappears once the political calculations become uncomfortable. CARE WORKERS TO HAVE A VOICE IN PAY NEGOTIATIONS On 16 July, the government announced that a new negotiating body would be established as part of the first adult social care Fair Pay Agreement. The intention is to bring together representatives of care workers and employers to negotiate issues relating to pay and working conditions across the sector. This has the potential to be a significant step. For too long, care workers have been described as skilled, essential and invaluable while being paid at levels that frequently fail to reflect their responsibilities. Many workers manage medication, respond to emergencies, provide intimate personal care, support people with complex health conditions and carry enormous emotional responsibility. Recognition matters. But recognition without improved pay risks becoming another warm speech directed at a workforce already exhausted by warm speeches. The Fair Pay Agreement must result in meaningful improvements. It must also be properly funded. Providers and families cannot simply be told to pay more without the wider care-funding system being addressed. There must also be clarity about how any national arrangements will affect different parts of the workforce, including directly employed staff, agency workers, personal assistants and genuinely self-employed carers. A fairer system should not flatten the sector or ignore the different levels of experience, complexity and responsibility involved in care work. It should create a credible minimum below which skilled care work is no longer allowed to fall. A CLEARER CAREER STRUCTURE FOR ADULT SOCIAL CARE The government has also expanded the Care Workforce Pathway, which is intended to provide the first universal career structure for England's adult social care workforce. The pathway now describes a wider range of roles and sets out the knowledge, skills, values and behaviours associated with working and progressing within care. For a sector employing approximately 1.5 million people, a recognisable professional pathway is long overdue. Care work is often treated as though it requires little more than kindness and availability. Kindness is essential, but professional care also requires judgement, observation, communication, safeguarding awareness, practical competence and the ability to work safely with people whose needs can change rapidly. A clear pathway could help workers explain their skills, identify training needs and demonstrate progression. It may also help challenge the idea that all care work is interchangeable. However, progression must bring something tangible with it. Additional training, greater responsibility and more complex work should lead to better opportunities and better pay. Otherwise, a career pathway risks becoming a beautifully organised diagram showing workers how to acquire more responsibility without acquiring a noticeably larger wage packet. CARER'S ALLOWANCE IS BEING RECONSIDERED The Department for Work and Pensions opened a call for evidence on Carer's Allowance on 7 July. The government is seeking views on how the benefit could be modernised, including how earnings are treated and how the system affects carers attempting to combine caring responsibilities with paid work. The current earnings rules can be particularly difficult for people whose wages fluctuate. A small change in hours, holiday pay, an occasional additional shift or an irregular payment can affect entitlement. This creates insecurity and can discourage carers from taking on paid work, even where they are willing and able to do so. The call for evidence presents an opportunity to raise concerns about: • the earnings threshold and its cliff-edge effect • the treatment of fluctuating income • confusing calculations and communications • delays in identifying possible overpayments • the difficulty of combining employment with substantial caring responsibilities The consultation remains open until 11:59 pm on 18 August 2026, and responses can be submitted anonymously. Anyone with direct experience of Carer's Allowance should consider responding. Policies are far more likely to reflect reality when the people living with their consequences take part in the discussion. THOUSANDS OF CARERS ARE STILL BEING DRIVEN INTO DEBT The need for reform was underlined by new figures showing that there were 32,559 earnings-related Carer's Allowance overpayments during 2025–26, amounting to approximately £33 million. Some carers were reportedly asked to repay more than £20,000. An overpayment can occur when someone earns above the permitted limit but continues receiving Carer's Allowance. The problem is that these payments have sometimes continued for months or years before the Department for Work and Pensions intervenes. By the time the carer is informed, the debt may have reached a frightening level. Carers do have a responsibility to report relevant changes. But a government department receiving earnings information should not continue paying a benefit indefinitely and then place the entire financial and emotional burden of its delayed response onto the individual. Many carers receiving Carer's Allowance are already providing at least 35 hours of care every week for a comparatively small payment. They may be juggling employment, appointments, medication, household responsibilities and constant concern for someone else's wellbeing. A system designed to support carers should not allow avoidable debts to accumulate silently in the background. Modernising the earnings rules is necessary. Improving the speed and accuracy with which earnings information is acted upon is equally important. THE POSTCODE LOTTERY IN ADULT SOCIAL CARE REMAINS The Care Quality Commission has now completed its first national programme assessing how local authorities in England are meeting their adult social care responsibilities under the Care Act. Of the 143 authorities assessed: • 60% were rated good • 35% required improvement • 3% were outstanding • 2% were inadequate The figures show that many councils are delivering positive work under considerable pressure. They also reveal substantial inconsistency. The CQC identified concerns including delays in assessments and reviews, variation in safeguarding oversight, weaknesses in support for unpaid carers and difficulties identifying carers before families reached crisis point. This matters because access to care should not depend so heavily on where someone happens to live. People with similar needs can encounter very different waiting times, eligibility decisions and levels of support depending on their local authority. Families are frequently left trying to navigate complex systems at precisely the point when they are tired, frightened or already overwhelmed. Local authorities cannot resolve every problem alone. Councils are operating within a national system shaped by funding pressures, workforce shortages and increasing demand. Nevertheless, national rights must mean more than theoretical rights. A Care Act entitlement is of limited comfort to someone waiting months for an assessment or to a family that only becomes visible to services once the situation has broken down. THE GOVERNMENT IS COLLECTING MORE EVIDENCE ABOUT CARE WORKERS' LIVES The Department of Health and Social Care also published the second wave of its Adult Social Care Workforce Survey on 2 July. The research examined employment, wellbeing, working conditions and care workers' quality of working life. It involved more than 3,000 people working across adult social care in England. Good evidence is essential. Policy should be built around what care work actually involves rather than what officials imagine it involves. But social care workers have been explaining the problems for years: • pay does not consistently match responsibility • working conditions vary enormously • travel and unpaid time can reduce real earnings • workers may feel unsupported or professionally invisible • opportunities for progression are often unclear • experienced staff leave because the personal and financial cost of staying becomes too high The value of another survey will therefore be measured by what changes because of it. Care workers do not merely need government to understand that poor conditions damage retention. They need government to act on that understanding. WHAT JULY'S DEVELOPMENTS REALLY TELL US Taken together, July's announcements suggest that social care is receiving greater political attention. That is welcome. A National Care Service could reshape how care is funded and accessed. A Fair Pay Agreement could begin addressing chronically low wages. The Care Workforce Pathway could help care workers demonstrate their skills and build recognisable careers. Reform of Carer's Allowance could make it safer for unpaid carers to remain in employment. However, every one of those developments comes with the same warning: The detail will matter more than the announcement. A career pathway without better pay is not enough. A Fair Pay Agreement without adequate funding is not enough. A consultation that does not lead to simpler and safer Carer's Allowance rules is not enough. And a promise to reform social care without a funded delivery plan is certainly not enough. Carers and families have spent long enough absorbing the consequences of political delay. They now need a system that recognises care before a crisis, pays workers according to the responsibility they carry, supports unpaid carers without punishing them and gives families clear, fair access to help wherever they live. Social care is back on the political agenda. This time, it must not be allowed to quietly fall off again.