Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timescale is for launching an independent commission into adult social care.

On 3 January 2025, we announced an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will begin in April 2025 and will be split over two phases. The first phase, reporting in 2026, will focus on how we can make the most of the existing resources to improve people’s lives over the medium term.

Phase two, reporting in 2028, will then consider the long-term transformation of adult social care, setting us on the road to the fundamental reform that will build a social care system fit for the future, recognising the power adult social care has to nurture local communities and help people live independent and fulfilling lives.