Overview of commission aims and timescales
The Casey Commission is an independent commission, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey, that aims to reform adult social care in England by laying the groundwork for a National Care Service. Its objectives include making recommendations for transforming the system, exploring funding models, and starting a national conversation about social care’s future. The commission is working in two phases. The first phase will publish medium-term recommendations in 2026. The second phase will focus on long-term, fundamental reform, with its final report due to be published in 2028.
We strongly support the work of the Casey Commission in setting out long-term solutions for social care reform. However, action and investment are needed immediately to address the current crisis in the social care system. We will continue to push the Government to act to support the millions of people across the country who are going without the support they need.
Our role
We are working closely with the Commission team to support their work in every way we can. Our hope is that Baroness Casey’s recommendations will help create a future in which social care works for everyone who needs it, and aligns fully with our Outcomes for Social Care.
As part of our early engagement with the Commission, we shared our Show Us You Care local data project. Our analysis – based on official data – exposed a massive postcode lottery in access to adult social care. We believe that data is vital context for the Commission’s deliberations as it shows not just that social care access is uneven, but that where you live can fundamentally affect whether you get the support you’re entitled to. It underlines the urgency of the Commission’s work: to help build a fair, consistent system rather than one dominated by arbitrary local variation.
We followed this up with our Pen Portraits project, which was created to showcase the real-life experiences of people who need, use, or provide care and support. Through these real stories, we wanted to ensure that the breadth of lived experience within social care is understood – not as abstract policy challenges, but as the daily reality that shapes people’s lives.
Our Pen Portraits illustrate the relentless bureaucracy, barriers to accessing care, and constraints on independence, dignity and happiness experienced by many people who draw on care. They also highlight the daily physical, mental and emotional pressures on unpaid carers who are often left trying to fill the gaps when support is inadequate. Just as importantly, the portraits show what it looks like when care works well—supporting people to recover from illness, stay well for longer, maintain independence, and live safe, ordinary, fulfilling lives. Good care can also enable unpaid carers to balance caring with other parts of their lives, including work, rest and social connection.
We strongly welcome the Commission’s persona-based approach. This is helping them keep their work person-centred and grounded in the urgent, everyday challenges faced by older people, disabled people and unpaid carers. We are pleased that the Commission team used our Pen Portraits in their evidence sessions for discussion. We are glad that this project has already made a meaningful impact, and we remain deeply grateful to everyone who shared their story with us.
In addition to this work, we will also be submitting a formal response to the questions on the Commission’s website, drawing on recent discussions with the CSA Management Group and insights from the Pen Portraits. We will share our submission with members once finalised—and we strongly encourage members to submit their own organisational responses through the Commission’s online form.
