‘No one is in charge’: social care system in England in chaos, Louise Casey to say

Successive governments in England have been “asleep at the wheel” on social care, leaving the system to grow as a chaotic patchwork of local services with no clear vision, Louise Casey, the head of the social care commission, is to warn.

Lady Casey, who is preparing proposals for a big review of adult social care, will say the result is that in effect “no one is in charge” of a system that provides vital services for millions of vulnerable people.

People’s experiences of care have varied depending on where they live, with different standards, assessment processes and waiting times, while the private care sector has grown dominant and regulation of services has often been ineffectual, she will say.

She will add that England has no clear “system stewardship” for social care, making it difficult for governments to target improvements to services or translate policy into practice, unlike in comparable countries such as France, Germany and Japan.

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Source: The Guardian, 11 November 2026