The Church of England’s report into social care, Care and Support Reimagined: A National Care Covenant for England, was published this week. The report calls for increased funds from central government to create an overhaul of social care, led by values including loving kindness, inclusion and empathy.

Central to the report is a call for a new National Care Covenant, which would require a rethink of attitudes, roles and responsibilities connected to care.

Robert Shanahan, Aspens’ CEO said:

“The recommendations within the report are welcome at such a critical time for social care. All that we do here at Aspens is motivated by our overarching vision for an inclusive society where people on the autism spectrum and with learning disabilities and their families can thrive as part of their community.

Social care in this country is currently drastically underfunded, leaving many gaps in support and care for disabled people and their families. To address this, urgent and radical change is needed and this report lays out a clear plan for how this could be achieved, through both increased funding from central government and rethinking the attitudes underlying the entire social care system. This includes a need for better pay and recognition for social care staff and a greater understanding that care will affect all of us at some point in our lives, whether we are caring for someone or being cared for ourselves.

I sincerely hope the government takes note and begins to make the bold public sector changes that are needed.”

Read the full report here.

An easy read version of the report is available here.