Public affairs & social care
Care Association Alliance
In the campaign's first nine weeks we gave the CAA a national voice from a standing start: a research-led policy paper backed by the Rt Hon Damian Green, 21 pieces of secured coverage, a live Parliamentary pledge tracker and a monthly newsletter — positioning the Alliance at the centre of the funding debate ahead of the Casey Commission.
The national alliance of England's independent care associations — 9,000 member organisations spanning residential, nursing, home care and supported living — campaigning for a national funding settlement for adult social care.
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The brief
The Care Association Alliance — representing 9,000 care organisations across England — appointed Bridgehead to build its public voice from scratch: a research-led paper making the case for funding reform, sustained media and Parliamentary engagement, and an owned channel to its members, timed to land ahead of Baroness Casey's commission on adult social care.
What they needed
Establish the CAA as the leading, unified voice of England's independent care associations.
Build the evidence base for a national funding settlement ahead of the Casey Commission.
Secure sustained national and trade media coverage for the reform programme.
Track Government and Parliamentary engagement with social care funding in real time.
Give CAA members an owned channel to follow and act on the campaign.
The approach
An integrated public-affairs campaign built from a standing start — original research, proactive media relations, live Parliamentary monitoring and a member newsletter, all timed to the Casey Commission's own timetable.
A research-led flagship report
We wrote and designed Adult Social Care Funding Reform, the first paper in the CAA's Building a National Care Service programme — including original analysis age-standardising spend-per-adult across all 153 English upper-tier authorities to test, and confirm, the sector's postcode-lottery claim.
Proactive trade and national media relations
We placed the paper and the CAA's running commentary on the funding debate in Care Home Professional, Caring Times, The Carer, Care Talk, Comment Central and beyond — securing 21 pieces of coverage in the campaign's first nine weeks, almost all built around direct quotes from co-chair Melanie Weatherley MBE.
A live Parliamentary pledge tracker
We built a bespoke tool that extracts every MP and peer statement on adult social care from Hansard, tags it, and uses Claude with web search to assess whether each pledge has been delivered, is in progress, or has stalled. It now tracks 64 pledges from 15 MPs and peers, giving the CAA a running scorecard to hold Government to its word.
A monthly newsletter to the sector
The Settlement, published monthly under the CAA's own masthead and edited by Melanie Weatherley MBE, gives members a direct call to action between paper launches — three issues sent as of mid-July 2026.
The thought leadership
Adult Social Care Funding ReformPaper One of Building a National Care Service: A Programme for Reform
The first paper in the CAA's reform programme — the case for pooling England's ageing-population risk into a single national funding settlement, rather than leaving it split across 153 local authority budgets never designed to bear it.
member care organisations represented
projected annual funding gap by 2032/33
age-adjusted spend per adult for the same statutory entitlement
recommendations put to the Casey Commission
The results
pieces of coverage secured
MP and peer pledges tracked live
recommendations put to the Casey Commission
Coverage over time
Coverage secured in the campaign's first nine weeks (21 pieces total, 13 May – 15 July 2026; July is a part-month).
The coverage
Leading social care trade title
Guest column
Melanie Weatherley MBE: 'We need a new vision for care sector reform'
Care Home Professional · 14 May 2026
Leading social care trade title
Public affairs
CAA responds to government plans to abandon standalone national care service
Caring Times · 3 June 2026
Leading social care trade title
Public affairs
Care Leader: new PM must take social care off the 'too difficult' pile, and Burnham must stand by his word
Care Home Professional · 22 June 2026
Political and policy commentary site
Analysis
Pooling the risk of old age: the reform plan councils and providers can both live with
Comment Central · 13 July 2026
Leading social care trade titleLaunch
CAA sets out a national funding model for adult social care
Care Home Professional · 15 July 2026
The breakthrough
A Prime Ministerial resignation turned around into a national funding intervention within hours.
When Keir Starmer resigned as Prime Minister, we turned the CAA's response around fast — securing coverage in Care Home Professional and Home Care Insight that put social care funding reform directly in front of the incoming administration, with Melanie Weatherley MBE demanding the Casey Commission's timetable be brought forward rather than used as cover for delay.
Seen in
The impact
A published, evidenced funding paper the CAA can put directly to the Casey Commission, backed by the Rt Hon Damian Green.
21 pieces of national and trade coverage in nine weeks, almost all carrying direct CAA quotes rather than passive mentions.
A live Pledge Tracker giving the CAA a standing record of 64 Government and Parliamentary commitments on social care, with a delivery verdict on 48 of them.
A monthly newsletter giving 9,000 member organisations a direct, owned channel to the campaign.
The outcome
From a standing start in May 2026: a flagship policy paper, 21 pieces of coverage, a live Parliamentary tracker and a monthly newsletter — built in nine weeks and still running, ahead of the Casey Commission's own timetable.
