Social care is set to be a central theme in the forthcoming UK general election. In the first electoral debate, held on June 4, 2024, Labour leader Keir Starmer promised a full plan to be published within the party’s manifesto. Sunak was altogether vaguer on what the Conservatives aim to do.
Whomever ends up in govermnent, adult social care will be one of their biggest challenges. Since the financial crisis of 2008, the problem of how to provide it to an ageing population has reached a critical level.
In England alone, 2.6 million people over the age of 50 cannot currently access the care they need. The devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all spend more per capita on social care than the Westminster government spends in England.
