Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech today about the need for change and reform, Mike Padgham has urged the Government to bring forward long-overdue reforms to social care and make fixing the system the defining legacy of this Parliament. Mr Padgham, Honorary President of Independent Care Group, said successive governments had failed to tackle the growing crisis in social care for decades and warned that the country could not afford any further delay. He said: “If the Prime...

The Independent Care Group (ICG) is calling for social care to be placed “at the heart of a national debate” ahead of the local elections, warning that candidates must be judged not on promises alone, but on whether they truly grasp the scale of a crisis pushing parts of the sector to the brink. ICG says that social care has become one of the defining moral, economic and political issues facing the country. Yet for too long it has been treated as a secondary concern – discussed only when...

You may have seen an item on the ITV News this week, featuring parents reporting the restriction of visits to their children; adults with learning disabilities in supporting living (i.e. they live in their own homes, supported by a care provider). We are shocked that, allegedly, restrictions were introduced as a result of parents raising concerns and formal complaints about the quality of care. The Independent Care Group (iCG) represents a range of independent social care providers, including...