Social care is low on list of priorities as government rushes to tackle football super league 'threat'

The government has moved far quicker to tackle the threat of a new football super league than it has in reforming the care of older and vulnerable people, says the chair of the Independent Care Group.

The Independent Care Group (ICG) said it wished the government could show the same intensity of action in bringing forward long-promised reform of the social care sector.

ICG chair Mike Padgham said: “Tackling a threat to the national game happened in the blinking of an eye, whilst reform of social care is going at glacial pace.

“We have seen in the past 48 hours the government can move extremely quickly when it wants to when it comes to tackling an emergency.”

'I love football, but I want to see the same enthusiasm towards reforming care'

The reaction of the ICG comes after news of the European super league hit the headlines. It was planned as a breakaway competition to rival or replace the UEFA Champions League, Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA.

However, fans of the six English Premier League teams invited to join the new league were left upset and disappointed by the announcement.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden met with representatives from the FA and the Premier League to discuss the options to block the proposed European Super League.

The six Premier League teams have now all pulled out of the European Super League.

Whilst Mr Padgham accepts football is very important to the country, he is disappointed the government cannot show even a tiny amount of the same “passion in tackling” the social care issue.

“Some 1.4m people are living without the care they need every day and reform of social care has been promised not for days, weeks or months, but for decades – right back to when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown promised to tackle the situation after they were elected in 1997,” says Mr Padgham.

He said care providers and those needing care had waited patiently behind other crises – most recently Covid-19 and Brexit.

“But it is really galling to see that care was pushed further down the pecking order very quickly when football was in crisis,” Mr Padgham added.

“I love football, but I just want to see a little of the same enthusiasm turned towards reforming care now that the immediate threat to its future is receding.”