Sir Keir Starmer must have the political courage to make a decision on funding for social care reform, an expert said, branding it “completely unnecessary” for the Government to wait three years for more recommendations.

The Prime Minister’s backing for long-awaited reform will be “absolutely critical” if much-needed change is to be made, Sir Andrew Dilnot said.

He described it as “blindingly… bleedin’ obvious” that something should be done in an area which remains “pretty invisible” in the public discourse.

The economist, who was the architect of plans for a care costs cap more than a decade ago, welcomed the fact that a newly announced commission would be “another chance to try to raise this set of issues up the agenda”.

But Sir Andrew insisted it should not take three years to produce a final report and recommendations, suggesting it is “perfectly feasible” for the Government to set out by the end of this year what it is going to do.

He described it as “completely unnecessary” to wait until 2028 to decide what to do and urged Sir Keir not to “hide behind waiting until everybody has agreed” because he leads a Government with a “very, very large majority” in Parliament.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting last week announced that an independent commission, led by Baroness Louise Casey, will begin in April, but the Government confirmed that a second phase, making long-term recommendations, might not report until 2028.

Sir Andrew branded this an “inappropriate length of time” and too close to an election, saying a decision on a major issue like this “ideally is made in the first half of a parliament because otherwise events get in the way”.

Mr Streeting has said the commission will “work to build a national consensus around a new National Care Service able to meet the needs of older and disabled people into the 21st century”.

It will be split over two phases, with the first, reporting to Sir Keir in mid-2026, looking at the issues facing social care and recommending medium-term reforms, and two years later reporting from its second phase.

Appearing before the Health and Social Care Committee on Wednesday, Sr Andrew said: “I think it’s perfectly, perfectly feasible for the Government to expect… by the end of 2025 to say, ‘actually, we know what needs to be done, this is what we’re going to do’.

“That’s perfectly feasible. We understand the challenges, we understand what the options are. It’s really a matter of political courage and political decision making.”

I think it’s so blindingly – excuse my language – bleedin’ obvious that something should be done here that, in the end, in an intelligent, affluent, civilised society, we get this done

Sir Andrew led a review into the future of funding social care and published his proposals in 2011.

But despite Dilnot-style reforms having been accepted by previous governments, they have yet to be enacted.

Labour faced criticism last summer for scrapping plans for an £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England would need to spend on their personal care over their lifetime, having argued the proposals were not “deliverable” in the time frame.

Sir Andrew told MPs: “I think it’s so blindingly – excuse my language – bleedin’ obvious that something should be done here that, in the end, in an intelligent, affluent, civilised society, we get this done. To be absolutely blunt I think the critical thing here will be the Prime Minister.”

He added that “to get something like this done a prime minister has to be committed to it”.

Sir Andrew said: “I think Sir Keir’s views will be absolutely critical in this and if the Prime Minister gets behind this then something, I think, will happen.

“So I am optimistic. I’m always vague about timescales but we will get this done and we must because how can we look ourselves in the mirror and not deal with this?”

He described social care as “exceptionally important” and said it has “extraordinarily significant impacts” on people’s lives.

He added: “But somehow social care (in the public conversation) is still pretty invisible.”

Kathryn Smith, chief executive at the Social Care Institute for Excellence, said that each time reform is promised but fails to be delivered feels like “groundhog day”.

Waiting for recommendations in 2028 will be “too late for too many people”, she added, telling MPs: “There has to be action now, there has to be funding now.”

Sir Andrew said improving social care would lead to short-term benefits for the NHS, but could in the long run add to costs for the state for the simple reason that people would be able to live longer.

He told MPs: “I wouldn’t want to make an argument that by doing social care better, in the long run we will save money.

“But now in the short to medium run I think we definitely will because we’re doing social care so badly that we’re jamming up the NHS in a wholly unhelpful way.”

He said people living longer is “one of the great triumphs of the last 150 years” and that hearing ageing described as a burden makes him “fume with anger”.

Better social care, he said, can give people “better and more flourishing lives”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Sir Andrew is “absolutely right” on the timing for reform, adding: “The social care crisis is forcing patients to be treated in hospital corridors while elderly people sell their homes to pay for care.

“After years of being let down so badly by the Conservatives, they cannot afford to wait while the Government drags its heels for another three years.”

Responding to a plea from Sir Ed in the Commons to speed up the work on reform to make 2025 “the year we finally rise to the challenge of fixing care”, Sir Keir said he wanted “cross-party consensus” on the issue.

The Prime Minister noted social care funding announced in the Budget as well as an increased carer’s allowance, but did not commit to a new timetable for the commission.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Baroness Casey has been appointed to build a consensus around the future of adult social care that is fair and affordable.

“The first report will be published next year and set out the immediate action this government should take to lay the foundations of a National Care Service.

“We are also taking action now, including increasing funding to allow disabled people to stay in their homes, boosting the carers allowance, professionalising the workforce and giving local authorities an extra £3.7 billion in 2025-26, including a £880 million increase in the social care grant.”