SCIE and Centre for Care to Co-Host Labour Party Conference Panel on Care Equity

During the 2026 Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the Centre for Care will jointly host a panel exploring why care equity should be a core component of a National Care Service.

The panel, ‘Placing care equity at the centre of adult social care reform’, will examine the inequities that continue to shape people’s experiences of social care in England and consider how stronger use of evidence can support fairer policy, practice and reform.

Social care in England is marked by stark variation. People with similar needs can have very different experiences depending on where they live, from timely, personalised support that enables independence and dignity, to long waiting lists, high eligibility thresholds and unmet needs.

But geography is only part of the picture. People’s experiences of social care can also be shaped by income, age, ethnicity, gender, disability, health conditions, digital access, informal support and wider structural pressures. These factors can interact and compound over time, creating unequal experiences of finding, accessing and sustaining care.

The panel will bring together political voices, researchers and sector leaders to consider where these inequities exist, how they affect people drawing on care and support and unpaid carers, and what needs to change.

Chaired by Baroness Thornton, Chair of SCIE, the panel will include Kate Hamblin, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Sheffield and Director of the Centre for Care; Phil Holmes, President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS); Sojan Joseph MP; and Anna Dixon MP. Alison McGovern MP, Minister for Care, has also been invited to join the discussion.

The discussion comes at an important point for adult social care reform. As work continues towards a National Care Service, questions of fairness, consistency and equity are increasingly important. The panel will explore how evidence, including the experiences of people who draw on care and support, can help policymakers identify and address unjustified variation while protecting the personal and local nature of good social care.

It will also consider how reform can move beyond unequal access alone. Recent research commissioned by SCIE found that inequity can be experienced through the amount of work people have to do to secure support, from repeatedly explaining their circumstances and chasing information to coordinating services, proving need and challenging decisions.

The event will explore what government, local authorities, providers and the wider sector can do to reduce those unequal burdens, strengthen choice and control, and ensure that good care is available more consistently to everyone who needs it.

Baroness Thornton, Chair of SCIE, said:

“The evidence shows us that inequity is rarely caused by one thing. Different barriers interact and build over time, and too often the burden falls on people drawing on care and unpaid carers to chase, coordinate and fight for the support they need.

“As we reform the adult social care system, we have an opportunity to tackle these inequities. We will be tinkering at the edges unless there’s a clear focus on reducing unjustified variation and ensuring that everyone can access good quality care, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances.

“I am delighted to be chairing this discussion with the Centre for Care and such an experienced panel. I look forward to exploring how we can put equity at the heart of reform and turn the evidence we already have into practical improvements in people’s lives.”

Kate Hamblin, Director of the Centre for Care, said:

“Social care is essential civic infrastructure: it enables people to live the lives they value and sustains families and communities. Yet gaps, complexity and local variation too often shift costs and responsibility onto people who draw on care and unpaid carers, deepening existing inequalities.

“Centre for Care research consistently shows that inequity is built into the system – not only in who gets support, but in what people pay, who is expected to provide care and whether services reflect the lives people actually lead. These disadvantages intersect and accumulate over time.

“A National Care Service offers a vital opportunity to tackle these connected inequalities. That requires sustainable investment and greater national consistency, alongside personalised, locally responsive support shaped by robust evidence and the lived expertise of those who draw on and provide care.”