Social Care Funding Matters
Social Care Funding Matters – our June 2026 campaign to raise awareness about the current problems with social care funding.
Raising awareness about the current issues with Social Care Funding
Throughout June 2026, the Community Care Law team at Martin Searle Solicitors are running their campaign Social Care Funding Matters, to raise awareness about the current problems with social care funding. Their Community Care Law Team will provide practical advice and assistance to individuals keen to find out more about what how to access social care funding and the services they are entitled to under the Care Act. Their advice is also available to professionals such as accountants, financial advisors, private client lawyers and professional deputies who also have to offer advice about paying for care.
In May 2025, the Casey Commission began its work on setting out a model of recommendations for the introduction of a National Care Service. In March 2026, Baroness Casey described the current state of social care as “shaped for a very different age, held together with add-ons and work arounds, sticking plasters and glue. Without ever having the moment of reckoning we now need”. She stated that a national conversation would be needed to seek backing from the public on the future of social care. The commission is due to deliver phase 1 of their recommendations for social care this summer, with longer term recommendations for the transformation and funding of adult social care to follow in 2028.
The Nuffield Trust reported in September 2025 that fewer than half of older adults with care needs in England are receiving support, including support from unpaid carers, and that 259,000 adults are waiting for their care package to start.
As of June 2025, Kings Fund reported that the Local Authorities spent a total of £32 billion per year on social care for the 859,000 adults with long-term care needs in England. However this does not include the number of self-funders which according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies is in the “hundreds of thousands”.
Our Community Care Law team have found that much of the information published by the media is incomplete, misleading, or does not represent the true nature of the care funding system. This means that a large number of people do not access the financial support from health or social services that they are legally entitled to.
