Election Manifestos ‘Woefully Short’ On Tackling UK Social Care Crisis

Election manifestos from all political parties have failed to address the urgent actions needed to fix decades of neglect in the UK’s social care system, according to the founder of a network of care homes for at-risk children and young people.

With just days to go to the General Election, Gillian Ashcroft, who is the Founder and CEO of Exceptional Care and a passionate campaigner for reform of the country’s crisis-ridden social care system, says the current election campaigns offer no new solutions – and those that do lack detail and ambition.

Now, she is calling on people to take their local MP candidates to task on social care pledges during doorstep conversations and is seeking a promise from a new Government that it will take a cross-party approach to delivering meaningful and urgent change.

Gillian Ashcroft said: “Talk to anyone within the UK’s social care sector, and they’ll describe a broken system. Despite pockets of positivity, the national picture is one of crisis. Politicians from all parties have failed to address the urgent solutions needed to fix decades of neglect.

“As the General Election approaches, manifestos from major parties fall woefully short on social care policies that could deliver the change people deserve. While my focus is on at-risk children and young people, the challenge affects all age groups. Health and social care are critical issues for everyone.”

She believes that very little progress has been made in the social care sector by successive governments over more than two decades, and the current election campaign and political party manifestos have missed opportunities to set out a clear plan for the future.

She added: “Labour and the Conservatives have proposed ideas we’ve heard before, while the Liberal Democrats’ free personal care plan falls short and would not impact the wider social care system.

“The Labour Party’s National Care Service lacks funding details. Meanwhile, the Green Party and Reform UK propose interesting ideas, but they are both unlikely to be leading the country after July 4.

“Whoever gets the keys to Number 10, it is vital that social care is a top agenda item for urgent action – because the people of this country who need help the most deserve much better than another decade of delay and decay.”

With just days to go before the nation goes to the polls, she is urging the public to challenge candidates on their doorsteps about health and social care policies – and calling for a national conversation as part of an all-encompassing reform process.

She concluded: “The only way through the endless cycle of crisis identification and inaction, that has dogged social care for decades, requires political consensus and national engagement – which means we need a proper nationwide discussion, rather than brushing the topic aside, such as has been the case during this election campaign.”