An emerging consensus: MPs’ and councillors’ views on fixing social care funding
10 March 2021
Latest poll finds cross-party consensus on the need for social care reform, in particular on funding.
Social care
There is a growing consensus that additional funding and support are needed for social care to ensure services are both sustainable and accessible to everyone that needs care. The status quo is untenable: staff are overstretched and underpaid, the market for providers is fragile and there is growing unmet need for support.
This was true 18 months ago when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, promising to bring forward proposals to “fix social care once and for all.” Since then, COVID-19 has
further exposed the underlying weaknesses in the social care system, strengthening the case for urgent action.
The Health for Care coalition commissioned YouGov to survey a representative sample of MPs and councillors in England between November and December 2020 to gauge their views. The findings reveal a strong consensus on the need for adult social care reform in England. This consensus spans party divides and both national and local government.
This report summarises the findings.