Prime Minister Andy Burnham has warned the NHS faces collapse unless the social care system is finally sorted after years of promises. He vowed to use his 'political capital' to find solutions, saying he does not want to leave office without bringing about substantial change.
In an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Burnham also indicated he wants to make it harder to claim benefits, saying the country must 'get serious' about bringing the welfare bill down.
Urgent reform needed
Mr Burnham is expected to give a speech this week outlining his desire to get a grip on social care. He told Ms Kuenssberg: 'I will go as quickly as I can on the reform of social care... I think there are major changes you can make before the next election.'
'This costs the NHS billions of pounds and we will never get the NHS back to good waiting time standards until we fix social care.'
Last month, 14,000 people were stuck in hospital each day in England, mainly because they cannot get social care to be safely discharged elsewhere – a rise of 70% since 2021. Mr Burnham first proposed a universal social care system in England back in 2009, when he was Health Secretary under Gordon Brown.
Political backing
On Sunday, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting backed his boss to get a grip on the system. He said: 'It's why Andy Burnham's leadership matters, because I have no doubt that he will prioritise this issue. I think you'll see him this week spelling out why and how he intends to grip this issue, and why it means so much to him in a way that I think will resonate with so many people across the country.'
Mr Burnham – whose father Roy has Alzheimer's disease and lives in a care home – responded to Ms Kuenssberg's question about political will: 'Whatever political capital I have, I will put in to fixing broken social care, and I would not want to leave office without having brought in the substantial change.'
Benefits reform
Elsewhere, Mr Burnham suggested it should be harder for people – particularly young people – to be able to claim benefits. He indicated plans to 'increase the conditions on people required to receive benefits'.
The PM said: 'Well, I wouldn't necessarily go straight to blaming those people. What I would say is that there are people in the benefits system, young people in their 20s, who have been, I would, say, quite seriously let down because the support wasn't there for them when it should have been there... So I don't blame them. I don't think the support has been there for them in the way that it should have been.'
Pressed to elaborate, he said: 'It's about changing the nature of the support and making some of the support conditional upon people taking opportunities that are presented in front of them. So you might increase the conditions required to receive benefits.'
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden is drawing up proposals to reform the benefit system. Last year plans championed by Keir Starmer and former welfare chief Liz Kendall had to be abandoned following a rebellion by Labour backbenchers.
