Rebecca Long-Bailey, the Salford MP, has called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to create an NHS-style social care system, describing the current system as "brutal" and in need of a complete overhaul. She shared her personal experience navigating care for her mother, saying nothing prepared her for a system that is "confusing, fragmented and under enormous strain."
Long-Bailey argued that older people are forced to spend down life savings or sell homes to pay for care, while disabled people face exhausting battles for support. "The answer is not another sticking plaster. It is to build something fundamentally different: a National Care (Support and Independent Living) Service based on exactly the same principle that created the NHS: that essential support should be available according to need, not according to the ability to pay," she said.
Social care spending crisis
The social care sector has been in crisis for years, according to the British Association of Social Workers. Spending on social care has fallen by £770m since 2010, while local governments now spend upwards of 70% of their yearly budget on care – a total of £29.4bn across the UK in 2024/25. These costs have come at the expense of other services such as bin collections and park maintenance.
Burnham's response
Burnham, speaking at Jewish Care in Enfield on July 29, criticised politicians of his generation for a "major dereliction of public duty" over social care. "How can it be that something so vitally important is too difficult to handle?" he said. He pledged to bring forward the conclusion of Baroness Louise Casey's social care review by a year, refocusing it on how to introduce a National Care Service. He also promised immediate focus on the care workforce, improving wages and career progression, and cross-party talks.
Long-Bailey estimated the new service would cost £15bn to £20bn to set up, funded by reforms to Capital Gains Tax, National Insurance, and property tax. However, Burnham made clear that Baroness Casey's review would need to address funding before the government could proceed.
