Fixing Britain’s social care system will be Louise Casey’s biggest challenge yet

She is the no-nonsense Portsmouth civil servant who was called upon by four Prime Ministers to tackle deep-seated social issues including rough sleeping, anti-social behaviour, victims’ rights and troubled families.

Now Louise Casey has been commissioned by a fifth to chair an independent commission into adult social care. Her mission? Develop a plan to save the sector.

Lady Casey must build consensus around a new national care service that can meet the needs of millions of older and disabled people for decades to come. It will be her toughest challenge yet.

A crossbench peer and problem solver for governments of all stripes, Casey has never shied away from delving into thorny issues – or speaking truth to power. “If No 10 says ‘evidence-based policy’ to me one more time, I’ll cover them,” she once said in a speech.

She became deputy director of the homeless charity Shelter at the age of 25 and in 1999 became head of the government’s rough sleepers unit, where she successfully led the strategy to reduce the number of people living on the streets by two-thirds .

Casey became head of the National Anti-Social Behavior Unit, the Respect Taskforce and the Troubled Families Programme. She also served as a Commissioner for Britain’s First Victims.

More recently, she produced an exorbitant report on the culture of the Metropolitan Police, finding institutional racism, sexism and homophobia across the force, following the murder of Sarah Everard.

Saving adult social care will be by far the biggest challenge of her career.

The sector has been in crisis for decades. While the NHS, which itself has a host of serious problems, usually grabs the headlines and taxpayers’ money, adult social care is always the neglected relative.

A devastating analysis sent to ministers by leading voices in the sector last year warned that high labor costs, low fees and councils struggling to balance their books all threatened its overall sustainability.

A collapse in social care would leave people in need without care, increase the burden of responsibility on carers and increase pressure on the NHS, Care England and the Homecare Association said.

Politics and politicians are responsible for ensuring that the crisis remains unresolved. While most voters have little to complain about when ministers propose extra funding for hospitals, suggestions for new ways to fund adult social care – such as the ‘dementia tax’ – often prove controversial and end in tears.

Ministers hope to avoid this by appointing Casey to build a cross-party consensus. Their idea is to ensure that the new national health service survives governments of all stripes, just as the NHS has done for the past 76 years.

After her appointment was announced, Casey said: “Millions of older, disabled people, their families and carers rely on an effective adult social care system to live their lives to the full, with independence and dignity.

“An independent commission is an opportunity to start a national conversation, find solutions and reach consensus on a long-term plan to fix the system.”

Speaking about Political Thinking with the Nick Robinson podcast in 2023, Casey said she would only work for Keir Starmer if it was a job where she could “get something done”. Millions will hope it is, and it may be.