Prime Minister Andy Burnham has unveiled a three-point plan to overhaul England’s struggling social care system, describing years of political inaction as a “major dereliction of public duty”.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Burnham said fixing social care would be one of his Government’s defining priorities, arguing that successive administrations had failed vulnerable people by allowing political disagreements to delay reform.
“It is shameful that politicians have put point scoring before fixing this issue,” he said.
At the centre of the Prime Minister’s plan is an accelerated review of the social care system. Mr Burnham announced he had asked Baroness Louise Casey to bring forward publication of her independent review by a year, with recommendations now expected in 2027.
“Ideally, we want to do it even sooner, but we’ve got to be realistic,” he said.
The second strand of the plan focuses on improving conditions for the social care workforce.
Mr Burnham said raising pay would be an immediate priority, praising former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s introduction of a fair pay agreement for care workers while arguing it should go further.
I want to lift it up, bringing it closer to NHS standards,” he said, signalling an ambition to narrow the long-standing pay gap between care workers and NHS staff.
The third proposal seeks to break years of political deadlock through cross-party talks.
Mr Burnham revealed he had invited Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey to work with the Government on long-term reforms.
“I have been here before, and yes, I do have some of the scars of that, but it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
I stood on the steps of Downing Street just a few days ago, and I said I wanted to create a new way of doing politics in this country — more problem solving, less point scoring — and this is the first big test of that.
However, the initiative has already drawn criticism after Reform UK was excluded from the discussions.
Party leader Nigel Farage accused the Prime Minister of working with what he described as the “failed political establishment.
Writing on X, Mr Farage said: “If Andy Burnham is serious about putting politics aside to solve Britain’s biggest problems, it’s remarkable that he’s chosen to ignore Reform.
He claimed the talks amounted to “the uniparty in action” and alleged they would pave the way for future tax rises, although Mr Burnham has not announced how any reforms would be funded.
Social care has long been regarded as one of Westminster’s most intractable policy challenges, with successive governments promising reform but failing to deliver a lasting settlement. Mr Burnham’s decision to seek cross-party consensus suggests he hopes to avoid the political deadlock that has repeatedly derailed previous attempts.
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