Government Reform Must Address Social Care Crisis for Disabled Adults, Not Just Elderly Care
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/johnharris. "Social care for disabled adults is in as much crisis as support for elderly people – so why is the government silent about it? | John Harris | The Guardian." October 5, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
John Harris argues that while the government talks a lot about fixing care for elderly people, it's completely ignoring an equally serious crisis in care for disabled adults—even though this group makes up half of the care budget. He says this silence isn't just an oversight; it means real problems like underfunded care, long waiting lists, and poor treatment of disabled people are likely to be left unaddressed in any new national care service.
Conclusion
The government's proposed national care service reform is incomplete and unjust because it ignores the equally severe crisis in social care for working-age disabled adults, focusing political attention only on elderly care.
Premises
- Provision for working-age disabled adults accounts for roughly half of England's social care budgets, yet neither Burnham's nor Cooper's major speeches mentioned this population at all.
- The system for younger disabled adults is fragmented and unreliable, causing significant fear and worry comparable to that experienced by families of elderly care recipients.
- Many disabled people who rely on benefits (PIP, universal credit) are subjected to means testing that takes money from their already limited income to pay for care, as illustrated by Fred's case in Somerset.
- Hundreds of thousands of disabled people face long waits for initial care assessments due to councils delaying and evading their responsibilities.
- Accountability mechanisms for disabled adults' care are weak, relying only on an ombudsman or MP, especially once protections like SEND tribunals (available up to age 25) no longer apply.
- Care staff pay remains critically low, with a 28.6% pay gap compared to equivalent NHS roles, undermining councils' ability to provide quality, relationship-centered care.
- New proposals to cut health-related universal credit for young disabled people assume disabilities can be neatly graded from mild to severe, which doesn't reflect the reality of conditions like autism.
Assumptions
- Political attention and policy focus are necessary preconditions for meaningful reform of a care system.
- A national care service that doesn't explicitly address disabled adults' needs will fail to adequately serve them.
- The silence on disabled adults' care in government speeches reflects an actual policy gap rather than an oversight in rhetoric alone.
- Care should go beyond safety and basic needs to include quality of life factors like relationships, hobbies, and personal choice.
- The disabled adults' care crisis is of comparable severity and urgency to the elderly care crisis.
- Government statements promising to 'explore and consider' options for disabled adults are insufficiently committal given the urgency of the problem.