Andy Burnham pledges universal social care plan for next election

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Sunday that he wants a universal social care service in England, free at the point of use, and will put a plan for it in Labour’s next general election manifesto. The pledge sets a direction for a service affecting people who need care and those who provide it, but leaves its funding and delivery to be worked out.

Speaking to the BBC as Labour’s conference began in Liverpool, Burnham described a service based on NHS principles. ‘Everyone contributes, everyone’s covered,’ he said, while cautioning that people would not necessarily pay for it in precisely the same way they pay for the NHS. He ruled out implementing the reform before the election, currently due by 2029.

What Burnham has proposed

The proposal would change the basis on which social care is paid for in England. Unlike NHS care, support through the current adult social care system can leave people facing substantial costs. Burnham characterised the system as deeply unfair, saying vulnerable people can lose what they own to pay for care. His promise of a service free at the point of use addresses that concern, but it is not yet a detailed policy.

Burnham said he would seek voters’ endorsement through a general election manifesto. He acknowledged that reform across England would be complicated and politically difficult. ‘Somebody needs to grasp the nettle. I will be the one to do that,’ he told the BBC, according to The Guardian. Reuters also reported his pledge to put the plan before voters at the next election.

Funding remains unresolved

Burnham did not specify a tax, contribution rate or other funding mechanism. Asked whether the service would resemble the NHS in being free at the point of use and paid for through general taxation, he said it would be a system ‘of that kind’ but qualified how it might be paid for. He said Baroness Casey’s ongoing review would advise on the question.

He also disputed a suggested annual cost of £18 billion, saying it was ‘not as high’ as that figure, according to The Guardian. The reports do not establish a settled government estimate or describe a final package of services to cost. Without decisions on what care would be covered and who would qualify, his response cannot be treated as a full costing of the proposal.

Burnham said the pressure on public finances was real and that any plan would have to be developed carefully without adding strain to the public purse. That leaves a substantial question for voters: how a service intended to cover everyone would share its costs. His statement that everyone would contribute signals the principle he favours, not the amount any household would pay.

A review already under way

The government had outlined a broader approach to social care in July. In a statement published on 29 July, it said Baroness Casey’s commission would report the following summer, earlier than its previous 2028 timetable, with a plan for delivering a National Care Service. That work predates Burnham’s conference announcement and is the review he has pointed to for advice on funding.

The same government statement set out principles for the future service: sustainable funding, support that helps people live independently for longer, and smoother movement between hospitals, care at home and community services. It also described pressure on hospitals when people medically fit to leave cannot be discharged because adult social care capacity is lacking. Those aims indicate the range of problems the government wants to address; they do not settle how a universal service would operate.

There is a political precedent for Burnham’s caution. As health secretary in 2009, he proposed a national care service modelled on the NHS, The Guardian reported. Conservatives attacked a proposed tax on estates after death as a ‘death tax’; Labour lost the 2010 election and the plan was abandoned. Burnham said he was not necessarily returning to that funding proposal, while declining to rule options out.

What comes next

Burnham said he would give more detail in his Labour conference speech on Tuesday. The available reporting does not establish what he will say then. The precise contributions, eligibility rules, services covered and timetable for putting a plan into practice remain unanswered. For now, the concrete commitment is to develop a proposal and seek a mandate for it at the next general election.