Social care No 10 accused of 'delay and drift' of reform

The government has been accused of "delay and drift" after it emerged crucial cross-party talks aimed at building political consensus for large-scale changes to adult social care have failed to get off the ground.

- Patrick Butler Kiran Stacey

The Liberal Democrats said not a single all-party meeting on the issue had taken place in the four months since the government announced plans to build a National Care Service to fix the UK's growing social care crisis.

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, warned in January that older people could be left without help and the NHS overwhelmed unless a national consensus could be reached on how to fix a system widely regarded as failing.

Streeting appointed Lady Casey to chair a commission on social care with a brief to build agreement between the main parties on how the changes could be taken forward. He said past attempts at reform had stumbled because of "bad politics".

Talks were scheduled to open on 26 February but were postponed after ministers said that not all parties could make the meeting. The Lib Dems offered to "clear our diaries" to reschedule but said a new date has not yet been proposed.