How to take part in Baroness Casey's Big Conversation on Care

If you have been navigating the adult social care system for an ageing parent, you may already know how much it needs to change. The waiting, the means testing, the patchwork of services, the conversations where you felt invisible. For most carents, the frustration is not just personal. It is the reasonable conclusion of a system that was never designed around the people trying to use it.

That may be about to change. And for the first time, you are being asked directly.

What is the Big Conversation on Care?

The Big Conversation on Care launched on 29 July 2026. It is the public engagement programme for the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care, known as the Casey Commission, appointed by the Prime Minister and led by Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock.

The Commission describes it as "the most ambitious public conversation in a generation" on adult social care.

Right now it is asking a single, open question: "When we are old or disabled, or have a serious illness, who should support us and how?"

Everything heard through the Big Conversation will inform the Commission's recommendations to government, and the Commission will publish a summary of what it heard and how it shaped those recommendations.

Why this matters for carents

Adult social care reform has been debated in the UK for decades. Commissions have reported, white papers have been published, and reforms have stalled. Carents have watched that cycle with something between exhaustion and disbelief, because for those living in the system, the consequences of inaction are real.

The Casey Commission is different in scope. Baroness Casey has a track record of taking difficult social problems seriously and saying things publicly that others have avoided. The commitment to publishing how the Big Conversation shaped recommendations means carents can hold the Commission accountable for having actually listened.

This is a rare window. The people who understand adult social care best, from the inside, are not policy researchers or think tanks. They are people who spent last Tuesday sorting out a care package, arguing with a local authority, or sitting with their dad in an A&E corridor because there was no social care bed available. The Commission is asking for that knowledge. Sharing it is worth the fifteen minutes it takes.

Who can take part?

Anyone in England can take part in the Big Conversation on Care. The online platform is run by Make.org, a non-partisan organisation that specialises in large-scale public engagement of this kind. You can reach it through the Casey Commission Website or directly through Make.org.

You do not need to register to browse what others have shared. To contribute your own views, a simple registration is required.

An Easy Read version is also available for people who find standard text formats difficult.

Partners including Ipsos and specialist engagement organisations will also be working to reach people who may not engage online, including people with direct lived experience of care.

What happens when you take part?

Once you are on the platform, you can:

• Share your own ideas and views in response to the opening question

• Read contributions from other people across England

• Vote agree or disagree on ideas others have shared

The format is designed to surface areas of broad agreement across a large number of contributors, rather than amplifying the loudest voices. For carents, that matters. The experience of adult social care looks different across geography, income, family configuration, and diagnosis. What Make.org's approach can surface is where those different experiences converge on common conclusions.

What about the Public Panel on Care?

Alongside the online conversation, the Commission is establishing a Public Panel on Care of 100 to 150 people selected at random from invitations sent to tens of thousands of households. The panel is invitation-only and cannot be applied for. If an invitation arrives, it is worth taking seriously.

The panel will deliberate on the findings from the Big Conversation and make its own recommendations to the Commission. It is designed to allow a smaller group of people to go deeper into the evidence, rather than simply register a view.

How to take part

Go to the Casey Commission Website  or search for Make.org Big Conversation on Care.

If you want to contribute, rather than just browse, you will need to register on the platform. Registration is straightforward.

A few things that tend to help when sharing your view:

• Be specific. The question is broad, but concrete examples carry weight. What happened with your parent's last needs assessment? What would have made it different? 

• If the standard text format does not suit you or someone you are supporting, the Easy Read version is available.

The Big Conversation on Care is open now.

What Carents is doing

Carents will be following the Casey Commission closely. When the Commission publishes its summary, we will explain what it said, what was listened to, and what it means for carents in practice.

If you take part in the Big Conversation, we would like to hear how you found it. Pop us an email on hello@carents.co.uk.