Andy Burnham has been urged to ban private companies from making profit from social care, according to a new report from the Co-operative Party, Labour's sister party. The report argues that the co-operative model, which reinvests profit rather than extracting it, should be part of the solution to Britain's broken social care system.
Co-operative Model as a Solution
Social care co-operatives are typically owned by their staff, and any excess profit is reinvested into the business. This model contrasts with the current landscape, where 80% of the largest care home providers in the UK are owned or backed by private equity firms.
Mr Burnham, who is expected to replace Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, sits as a Co-operative Party MP and has previously expressed strong interest in reforming social care. The report highlights Be Caring, the largest employee-owned social care co-operative in the UK, which is calling for more providers to adopt the model.
Precedent in Wales
The focus on removing private profit mirrors a model set out in Wales, where laws were passed to ban private profit in children's social care. Councils are currently spending £23.3 billion a year on adult social care services.
Co-operative Party General Secretary Joe Fortune said: "Private profiteering is poisoning our social care system at the expense of staff, patients and families. The co-op model offers the opposite - social care businesses owned by the people who keep them going every day and profits reinvested in the care they deliver. Social care needs radical reform, and the co-op model should be at the heart of it."
Burnham's Long-standing Reform Ambitions
Mr Burnham’s desire to reform social care dates back to his tenure as a health minister under Tony Blair and later as Health Secretary under Gordon Brown. In 2009, he proposed the creation of a National Care Service to ensure elderly or disabled people can access care free at the point of use, similar to the NHS.
In the lead-up to the Makerfield by-election, he proposed bringing forward the publication of the Casey review into social care to 2026; it is currently due to finish in 2028. Earlier this week, Baroness Louise Casey, who is leading the major review into adult social care in England, said her interim report later this year will suggest some “quite big” changes to the system. She also confirmed she had been in contact with would-be Prime Minister Mr Burnham, who has spoken recently about the potential for a care levy.
