THE failure to tackle Britain’s social care crisis looks set to continue under Labour as ministers have demonstrated a “deafening silence” over its issues, sector leaders warned today.

Chief executives of Care England (CE), the Homecare Association (HA) and the National Care Forum (NCF) sounded the alarm after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would not cap costs for older people’s care and care minister Stephen Kinnock said he would scrap a fund giving training for 37,000 care workers.

Labour vowed to introduce a National Care Service and other elements of “deep reform” to the chronically understaffed sector in its manifesto.

Prof Martin Green of CE, Vic Rayner of NCF, Dr Jane Towson of HA and Newcross Healthcare non-executive director Suhail Mirza wrote in the Observer: “For decades, successive UK governments have failed to take responsibility for a growing social care crisis.

“This government must not continue that pattern.

“Yet, in a little over one month in office, the government has done [and] said little to suggest that social care under their watch will fare much better, a view reinforced by the deafening silence on social care in Sir Keir Starmer’s speech on August 27. We urge the government to change course.”

The sector leaders warned ministers they were risking a tragedy by failing to take “meaningful action.”

“The government’s well-publicised review of the NHS will be severely undermined without proper funding, fair rates of pay and support for the workforce careers,” they said.

The Department of Health and Social Care said: “We will work with the sector and build consensus to undertake a programme of reform, building a National Care Service to deliver high-quality care across the country.”