MPs have called on ministers to outline a ‘credible, long-term plan' to reverse the perception of English social care as a ‘source of national shame'.

In a damning report on the ‘precarious state' of care, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) targets the Department of Health and Social Care for particular criticism, including a failure to grasp the true scale of the problem and a lack of knowledge about the real cost of care that local authorities have to bear.