Recommendation 27

We recommend that the Government commissions research with the aim of fully quantifying the cost of doing nothing on adult social care reform. That research should seek to quantify costs to individuals, including unpaid carers and care workers, to local authorities, to care providers, to the NHS and to the economy. Cost is not just about money, it is also about non-monetary personal costs, including individual wellbeing across these specified groups. This research should be completed ahead of the final report of the Casey Commission, to enable a full cost-benefit analysis of 57 any recommendations she puts forward and to ensure that the Government can start building the public and political support it will need to guarantee the longevity of reform. The moral case for reform has never been stronger, but this must be accompanied by a robust financial case. Without this we fear that the reforms that come out of the Casey Commission will be doomed to failure, leaving everyone continuing to suffer under the current unsustainable system. (Recommendation, Paragraph 137) 58