York Labour councillors are pressing for a long-term national solution on adult social care, with a motion due before a meeting of all City of York councillors calling for the city to play its part in a national Big Conversation on Care.
The Labour administration says governments of all colours have struggled for decades with rising need, more complex care requirements and funding that has not kept pace. With a new Prime Minister committed to work cross-party to fix social care, councillors argue York should seize the moment to press for proper national reform.
Coles: carers know the system is in crisis
Councillor Jo Coles will propose the motion seeking local cross-party support for York’s involvement in the national conversation. She said:
“The tens of thousands of carers and those needing care across our city know there’s a critical need for a new national effort to resolve the crisis in social care. Too many people are struggling or being let down by a system because the country hasn’t gripped the issue and local government funding has eroded the council’s ability to do what it needs and wants to do; deliver the best possible care for our elderly and vulnerable residents.”
Coles added:
“The national Big Conversation on Care is a chance for us, as a city, to be clear that we want to see proper funding and valuing of social care and better support for carers, paid and unpaid, for the incredible work they do.”
Demand up 18–28% in two years
The motion highlights adult social care service areas where demand has risen by between 18% and 28% in just two years, with an ageing population and growing health and care needs not matched by equivalent funding.
Steels-Walshaw backs national funding effort
Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care, Councillor Lucy Steels-Walshaw, said she backed national efforts to fund looking after people properly as their needs change. She said:
“We are doing everything we possibly can to keep people healthy in their own homes for longer and promote their independence. But we need a solution to a problem we know has been escalating in its urgency for years.”
Steels-Walshaw added:
“As a council we want to hear from people locally through the national Big Conversation on Care what they think about adult social care and how the system is supporting people, their own experiences of care for family and friends and what they think is needed to make it better. This is the start of a process I hope will lead to better care and support for people that meets their changing needs.”
The motion is listed among items for discussion at the council meeting. The agenda is available via City of York Council democracy pages.
