Visiting a care home on Wednesday (July 29), Prime Minister Andy Burnham will say the country faces a choice between continuing to delay reform or finally tackling what he describes as one of Westminster's longest-running failures. He is expected to call on political rivals to work together on reform, arguing that social care has been repeatedly shelved because it has been viewed as "too risky, too difficult, and too complicated".
Cross-party talks and public consultation
The move comes as opposition leaders Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey have been invited to talks aimed at finding cross-party agreement on changes to the adult social care system. Burnham will be joined by the Health and Social Care Secretary and Baroness Louise Casey, who is leading the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care. The commission is tasked with drawing up recommendations for a National Care Service.
Baroness Casey will also launch the "Big Conversation on Care", a nationwide consultation inviting members of the public to help shape the future of adult social care in England. The consultation will begin through an online platform asking people what values and principles they believe should underpin the country's care system.
Burnham's plea for cooperation
Ahead of the speech, Burnham said: "Last week I said we needed a different kind of politics: problem-solving, not point-scoring. Nowhere is that more urgent than social care. For decades, governments have kicked this issue down the road because they've seen it as too risky, too difficult, and too complicated. Politicians might have different views but I'm serious about fixing this issue and to do that, we have to find common ground and listen to others to find a way forward."
He added: "It's time to draw a line under people playing politics when the human cost of that means carers struggling, families paying the price and our NHS buckling under the strain. This comes down to a choice. We can carry on passing the problem to the next generation, or we can face it head on and work together to build a care system that gives people dignity, security and the support they deserve. This is about bringing back hope that we can finally fix the difficult issues that have been ignored for too long, and making Britain believe again. That's why I'm making this choice and I'm prepared to put everything I've got behind it."
Scale of the challenge
Government figures released alongside the announcement show there are around 1.46 million adult social care workers in England and an estimated 4.7 million unpaid carers. They also suggest an average of 13,600 patients each day remained in hospital last month despite being medically fit for discharge, with delays linked in part to pressures in adult social care. Ministers say around 3,000 cases of corridor care are taking place every day because of capacity pressures across the NHS.
Baroness Casey said the country had become trapped in a cycle of "crisis, promises of reform, another review, and then retreat", with those needing care and their families paying the price. She said: "Fixing adult social care is about far more than money. People are already paying for failure through council tax, pressure on the NHS, their savings, giving up work, and the forced sale of their homes. The choice is whether we keep putting money into a system that is unfair, unpredictable and broken, or have an honest conversation about how to build something better."
