In the course of an inquiry Parliamentary Select Committees sometimes travel abroad to examine how an issue is tackled in a foreign country. As part of our inquiry into adult social care, the Communities and Local Government Committee went to Berlin on 12 and 13 December last year. What we learned about the German social care system made a significant contribution to our final report, which was published on 31 March.

From our discussions with our German opposite numbers, and a visit to a nursing home, it became very clear that the UK and Germany are facing the same problems in adult social care: an aging population that is living longer with more complicated illnesses, and with increasing competition for social care workforces. The Germans did not pretend they had found the answer to these problems, but there are certainly lessons we here in the UK can learn from them.