Political Viewpoint

BY Coun Paul Collins, Liberal Democrat Leader, Southend City Council.
I was pleased to see our new Prime Minister offer to senior opposition party leaders to opportunity to take on the national crisis of Adult Social care.
The Liberal Democrat analysis also shows that 2026 has seen a record number of people stuck in hospital because they do not have support to leave. This in turn causes a crisis for the availability of hospital beds. In June 2026, an average of 13,618 people a day were unable to be discharged from hospital because they did not have the right support in place – up by more than 1,400 patients since Labour took office in July 2024.
Prior to these discussion the Liberal Democrats have set out three tests for Andy Burnham on social care as our party leader, Ed Davey warns us that failure to act will be “a catastrophe for families, for the NHS and for local services”. He has argued that a “refusal to grasp the nettle of care is why Britain feels ungovernable and in decline.”
The tests come as new House of Commons Library analysis commissioned by the Liberal Democrats shows that individual contributions to local authority social care rose 60% between 2020/21 and 2024/25, from £2.93bn to £4.68bn.
It is assessed that at least 1 in 7 people over 65 now run up social care costs of over £100,000 in their lifetime. At the same time social care has risen to an eyewatering 78% of councils’ main budgets.
Southend Council certainly shares these financial pressures. The introduction of the 2% levy to Council Taxpayers for Adult Social care has been labelled a ‘stealth tax’ and Councils are obliged to add this to everyone’s Council Tax bill. But this is not the long term solution.
The Liberal Democrat tests for reforms to end the social care crisis are: A universal safety net of care, including free personal care.
Protect people from catastrophic costs so no family sees their finances devastated by care needs.
Put family carers front and centre with guaranteed rights for every carer, including respite care and a full replacement of the broken carers allowance so that families can afford to care. Then we can finally recognise the millions of people looking after their loved ones and protect them from poverty and exhaustion. People want to look after their family members – and it saves the NHS a fortune – so why do we neglect them and treat them as disposable?
They need to be recognised as a financial benefit to be encouraged to help the individual and our society.
We need to work to provide a ‘universal safety net’ of the most essential care we can ensure no one is denied the dignity and independence they deserve. This would go hand in hand with protection against catastrophic costs, so that if you get dementia or a long term disability, you and your family do not lose everything you have worked for – just because of ill fortune.
Despite record costs for families and communities, fewer people can access care – with nearly 1 million people denied care packages in 2024/25 an astonishing 6,000 people dying while waiting for social care that never came.
There has been a major knock-on effect on the NHS, with record numbers now stuck in hospital who are medically fit to be discharged, but not assessed to return home without a suitable care package. Party analysis has found that a record 2.46m hospital bed days have been lost to delayed discharges so far in 2026, higher than the equivalent period for any previous year.
The social care crisis is a catastrophe for families, for the NHS and for local services provided by your Council.
We are stuck with a system that better resembles the 1920s than the 2020s. Where elderly people are left bedbound without support, and where families lose everything on care home fees. Where local services are defunded to prop-up a broken model which politicians have not had the courage to touch.
We must act with courage, put aside party politics, and end the social care disaster once and for all. The Labour Party’s Prime Minister’s offer to do this is welcomed and in the true tradition of our Liberal Democrat Party, we stand ready to ignore party lines and work for the vulnerable and their dedicated carers. I am proud that Liberal Democrats stand ready to work to tackle this existential crisis. For carers and for our country, nothing matters more.
Picture: Coun Paul Collins, Liberal Democrat Leader, Southend City Council.
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