ANDY Burnham has “barred Scotland from talks about a substantial change to the UK tax regime”, the SNP have alleged.
The allegation comes after the new Prime Minister invited the Conservative and LibDem leaders, Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey, to cross-party talks on social care reform south of the Border.
Although health is devolved, reports have suggested that Burnham could be considering a new UK-wide tax (on income or inheritance) to fund the reforms. The Prime Minister on Wednesday did not rule out tax rises.
SNP MSP Clare Haughey said: “If Andy Burnham is planning to impose a tax hike on Scottish people to pay for reforms to English social care provision – then at the very least Scotland should be involved in those discussions.
“Not only has Andy Burnham barred Scotland from talks about a substantial change to the UK tax regime, he has barred the only party that actually provides free personal and nursing care – the SNP.”
“Words are easy on social care, but what the Labour Government cannot do is treat nations like Scotland as an afterthought when it comes to radical reform – Scottish taxpayers will be completely miffed if their taxes are going up to pay for the English care sector.”
Burnham is reportedly open to exploring a new care system which would be free at the point of use. The Prime Minister has said he would like to see one which “operates on the NHS principle”.
However, a “middle-ground” option reportedly under consideration could look at the Scottish model, where personal and nursing care is free at the point of need, but costs such as accommodation and food are paid by individuals.
A third option could be a care costs cap, where people are charged for the cost of their care up to a certain threshold, after which the state will cover it.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage – who is not currently an MP – also hit out at Burnham after being excluded from the talks, saying that the Labour-Tory-LibDem negotiations were “the uniparty in action”.
“It’s now clear that Burnham is conspiring behind closed doors to foist further tax rises on the country,” he said.
The Green Party of England and Wales also expressed anger at being excluded, with the party’s Westminster leader Dr Ellie Chowns saying: “If Andy Burnham is serious about doing things differently and tackling the crisis in care, he must work collaboratively with the Greens and other parties to do so.
“I have repeatedly called for greater action to fix adult social care, and for increased work across party lines to achieve this aim, because I know that the scale of the challenge before us demands commitment from MPs across the political spectrum if we are to make real progress.
“It is therefore deeply disappointing that the Green Party was not invited to take part in the cross-party talks on adult social care today, despite Burnham’s stated commitment to working cooperatively on this issue.”
Announcing plans to reform care on Wednesday, Burnham said: “I won’t stand by and leave people paying the price for Westminster’s refusal to deal with the real issues facing our country.
“That’s what’s happened with our broken social care system, which has been left to decline while politicians pass it back and forth.
“I just don’t accept that this problem is too big to solve. What we need is a new way of doing politics where we come together, face the challenge head on and build an integrated system that gives people security and dignity.”
The Prime Minister has said it costs the NHS south of the border around £2.5 billion a year to have people who are medically fit to leave remaining in hospital because there is no care available in the community.
The SNP previously pledged to create a "National Care Service" in Scotland but the idea was plagued with controversy, and eventually ditched altogether in early 2025.
