Carers should be the best paid people in society, not the worst, Andy Burnham has said as he promised a sweeping reform of the social care system – but experts have raised questions over how much money will be needed to fund it.
The prime minister announced he would be expediting Baroness Louise Casey’s commission into social care, bringing forward the original 2028 deadline to next year. Mr Burnham also vowed to immediately begin reforming the workforce – saying staff should also be integrated with the NHS – as well as promising to work with the other major parties to reach a consensus on the issue.
While Mr Burnham acknowledged tax rises could also be necessary, he insisted Labour’s manifesto commitments not to increase workers’ income tax, national insurance or VAT rates would remain in place.
But experts have raised the alarm over how much funding will be needed, with the Health Foundation warning that the current £500m fair pay agreement for care workers – agreed by Sir Keir Starmer’s government and due to come into force in 2028 – “equates to only roughly 20p extra an hour per worker”.
“Burnham is right that further reform to improve training and progression will be needed too. Additional investment will likely be needed too,” the body said.
The Local Government Association (LGA) echoed their concerns, warning that “proposed funding is not likely to be sufficient to cover the full cost of a fair pay agreement (FPA)”, urging Mr Burnham to make sure that local government is part of decision-making on funding to “avoid a scenario where an FPA jeopardises the supply of care and sustainability of council finances”.
Mike Padgham, honorary president of the Independent Care Group (IGC), made a similar argument, explaining that while he agrees social care staff deserve higher pay, it must be sufficiently funded.
“If we’re going to pay staff more, then they have to pay local authorities more... the reason [pay] is so low is because we are, I use this word, screwed down by local authorities to deliver the high-quality care at the lowest possible price.
“So if we are going to raise the pay, then they have got to fund local authorities more, so they can afford to pay for better pay,” he told The Independent.
The prime minister – who teared up as he spoke about his father who is currently receiving care for Alzheimer’s – said it was a “major dereliction of public duty” that politicians had failed for decades to resolve the crisis in social care, suggesting he wants to make sweeping reform a key part of his premiership.
Speaking at a care home in Enfield, North London on Wednesday, Mr Burnham argued that social care in England was as unfair as American healthcare as he reflected on the many people forced to whittle down their pensions and savings to care for family members due to the current system.
He said that as well as improving pay for social care workers, he wanted to support better training and security in roles, so the workforce conditions were in line with NHS standards.
During his speech, the prime minister:
- Said he had accelerated Baroness Louise Casey’s review of social care so it will report next year
- Promised reforms to improve the “strength and the capability” of the social care workforce
- Confirmed he would begin cross-party talks with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, insisting it was the “right thing to do” to try to find a consensus
- Acknowledged there would have to be “difficult decisions” on tax as part of social care reform, but vowed to “be honest with people” and “do more” with existing resources first
- Said in an “ideal world” people would not be forced to sell their homes to fund their care
“It’s shameful, to be honest, that politicians have put point scoring before fixing this issue, but that’s what’s happened,” he said.
“It’s created a feeling in Westminster that this is too difficult, and if you take it on, you’re taking on too big a political risk.”
Although the prime minister stopped short of announcing concrete funding commitments, he said the savings to the NHS from fixing issues around social care could help fund a reformed system.
The prime minister – who said he felt urged to speak “from the heart” rather than from notes as he addressed the care home in London – said it costs the NHS around £2.5bn a year to have people who are medically fit to leave remaining in hospital because there is no care available in the community.
“I think we owe it to the public before we talk about tax rises” to “do more with what you’ve got”, he said.
Reflecting on how care workers were on “poverty pay”, Mr Burnham described the “humbling” experience of watching carers look after his father, concluding: “They should be the best-paid people in society, not the worst.”
He added that the government will “start to think about progression routes for young people coming into social care, so they can progress from social care into NHS positions as well, and think about it as one workforce”.
“We will not get the care service we all want until we improve the strength and the capability of care at the very front of the service, and that means lifting up the social care workforce as best we possibly can,” he said.
Mr Burnham held a cross-party meeting to discuss tackling the crisis in adult social care on Wednesday afternoon, acknowledging that real change would require “give and take” from different factions within the government.
“If we’re going to get to a solution, we’re all going to have to listen to each other,” he said. “Something we don’t do particularly well in politics [is] actually, engage and listen to other perspectives. We’re going to have to find common ground here.”
Speaking after the meeting, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey – who has a disabled son and has been vocal on the issue of social care – said he feels “hopeful” about Mr Burnham’s approach.
“We had a constructive call, and I come out of it feeling hopeful. Clearly this is just the beginning and we will need many more cross-party meetings to find consensus,” he said.
Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats accepted the prime minister’s invitation “to build that spirit of collaboration from the start”, while Nigel Farage hit out at Mr Burnham for ignoring Reform UK.
