UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has delivered a speech on reforming England's social care system, acknowledging past failures but vowing to push forward with change. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
Speaking at a Jewish care home in north London on Wednesday, Burnham admitted he had been here before. In 2010, as health and social care secretary, he unveiled extensive proposals to overhaul social care, only for them to collapse amid rightwing media hostility and furious political rows about "death taxes". Now, as prime minister, he is revisiting the issue.
Burnham said he would accelerate Louise Casey's review of social care, which under Keir Starmer had been slated for 2028. Lady Casey's recommendations for a National Care Service would be published within 12 months. He promised to back Casey "100%".
The prime minister gave few policy details, saying the reform could be "fully fledged or lesser options or something in between". Funding options would be determined by Casey. However, he stressed that it wasn't just about money: quality of care must improve, work more closely with the NHS, and be built around the needs of care users.
Burnham pledged investment in the social care workforce, boosting pay and training. He said he was not opposed to private providers but would not tolerate "profiteering". He also called for more support for unpaid carers.
Burnham blamed his generation of politicians for the dire state of English social care, saying they had serially ducked reform. "How have we got to a position where it's too difficult to fix the basic care that we give to each other?" he asked.
On tax, Burnham was non-committal but suggested that "if everybody, on the NHS principle, contributed a little, it would mean everyone could protect the majority of what they'd worked for". He added: "Now I know the Mail and probably the Telegraph doesn't support that. But I don't know – do people support that?"
Social care experts called the speech an impressive start. "There was a sense of excitement in the room," one veteran campaigner said. Burnham showed passion, humanity, and a grasp of detail. He compared the inequity of social care in England with the privatised US healthcare system: "The vulnerable pay with everything and it can completely leave them with nothing."
Observers noted that for once, there was clear political will from the very top to break the entrenched consensus that fixing social care is impossible. It's early days, but for now there is the rare whiff of hope and optimism.