“The social care system is broken – it’s vital that the country has the opportunity to choose a leader who is genuinely interested in solving the care crisis”

This week, Conservative MPs decided on the two final candidates to become our next Prime Minister . This is a critical time for our country – and although discussing whether or not to cut taxes will be important to many, the candidates should also be addressing concerns about the need to prioritise what matters most in our society. At Mencap, we want to see someone in power who believes in the value of social care for those in society who require some form of care or support to live their lives well.  Fast action is required to fix the broken social care system once and for all.

As party members, you have an opportunity to look at both candidates and carefully consider their policies. We know that whoever takes over must act quickly to fulfil the UK government’s long-standing and unfinished commitment to mend the broken social care system, and we know what’s at stake if they fail to finish the job.

Many of the 1.5 million people living across the UK with a learning disability depend on the social care system to live a fulfilling and independent life. But new research from ADASS (the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services) warns that we must brace ourselves for our most challenging year yet – with 7 out of 10 directors saying that social care providers in their area have closed, and many social care workers being forced out because they can no longer afford to do the job they love. These are frontline workers who put their lives on the line during the Covid-19 crisis, yet they are struggling to afford basic life essentials because of the cost of living crisis.

ADASS also found that just 3% of local authorities are confident that they have the resources to deliver on all of their responsibilities next year and that 51% are recording more referrals and requests because of the lack of other services in the community .  We need more, not less funding, for social care to deal with these pressures, and candidates need to be clear on how they will make this happen.

We must ask ourselves; what kind of society do we want to live in? If we don't support disabled adults and older people who rely on the essential care and support that the care system represents – what does that say about our priorities? People who rely on social care represent a key constituency of voters, including working-aged adults, whose quality of life can be transformed by bold and decisive action.

While some progress has been made, we still have a long way to go, especially for the 90% of care users who won't benefit from the new cap on care costs. The new leader’s legacy may well be defined by the way they take on these challenges and succeed where previous Prime Ministers have failed; in ensuring social care becomes as important to the UK as the NHS and as a result gets the recognition, funding and commitment from government that it deserves.