UCU: Urgent action on the crisis in social care

Motion

Motion text: After many years of underfunding, inadequate provision, service failures and a
number of reviews and proposals to increase funding that were never
implemented, social care in the UK is still in crisis. Most care services are
outsourced to commercial providers whose priority is maximising profits. Market
based approaches have failed. This requires addressing urgently.
Congress welcomes the Casey review, which is due to report in 2028, but
understands that this will do nothing to alleviate current unmet needs that require
urgent intervention now.
Congress instructs the NEC to campaign alongside other organisations for:
1. New sources of funding for social care based on a reduction in government
spending on defence and an end to subsidies for arms manufacturers;
2. New funding to be specifically allocated to local authorities for the in-house
provision of additional care;
3. Political acceptance of the principle that public spending should prioritise
“people not profits”.