News alert / Reforming adult social care in England

Two years into its 10-year plan to overhaul adult social care, the government has delayed proposals to cap the lifetime care costs a person pays and scaled back plans for reforming the system it set out in December 2021. And despite progress in some areas, it is behind schedule even on its revised plans. So says a new report from the National Audit Office, Reforming adult social care in England, which adds that more than £1bn of the £1.7bn committed to reforming the adult social care system in December 2021 has been diverted to other care priorities. The report reveals that only £729m may now be spent between 2022 and 2025 on reforming the adult social care system, representing a 58% fall in the budget.