With the Conservative Party’s leadership contest well under way, the National Care Forum (NCF), the association of not-for-profit care and support providers, has called on the contenders to put social care at the centre of their policy agenda and to reaffirm their commitment to its reform.

NCF stated that the entire sector has watched the leadership race with increasing concern as those vying for the top position have competed to show their willingness to cut taxation, and in particular, the recent national insurance increase for the extra funding for health and social care.

The government’s recent proposed reform plans include a cap on care costs, a fair price for social care providers, the ability for those who fund their own care to pay at the local authority fair price for care rates (which is now planned to be phased in over 18 months from October 2023), and greater investment in the workforce and innovation.

NCF stated that its members want to see a greater commitment from the government to enable and fund better pay, terms and conditions for the workforce, alongside a dedicated workforce plan.

Professor Vic Rayner chief executive of NCF said: “Those responsible for the commissioning and delivery of care, alongside those receiving care and support need answers now. We need a leader that commits to reform, commits to address the chronic underfunding and fragility of the sector, and most of all commits to own this golden opportunity to co-design a social care system for the future that all can hold in the highest regard.

“Social care is a public service and those who receive care and work in care expect a leader who sweats the hard stuff. The next prime minister would do well to remember that social care matters to us all.”