UK's Burnham pledges to end care crisis that has "gone on too long"

Andy Burnham promised to reform social care to help "my dad and the millions like him" faced with the unfairness of the current system as he acknowledged tax hikes could be needed to pay for fundamental changes.

The prime minister, whose father has Alzheimer's, said "difficult, difficult decisions" could be needed on tax but insisted fixing the current problems in social care in England could save the NHS billions of pounds a year.

Burnham said it was a "major dereliction of public duty" that successive governments had failed to address the crisis in social care.

The prime minister, who set out proposals for reform as health secretary in 2009, said the blame lies with "my generation of politicians" who had not confronted the problems posed by an ageing society.

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.

– Said in an "ideal world" people would not be forced to sell their homes to fund their care.

The prime minister said: "It's a major dereliction of public duty that Parliament has not faced up to this of all challenges, something so fundamental to life as this.

"It's shameful, to be honest, that politicians have put point scoring before fixing this issue, but that's what's happened.

"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."

Burnham said the savings to the NHS from fixing issues around social care could help fund a reformed system.

But he acknowledged tax rises could also be necessary, although he insisted Labour's manifesto commitments not to increase workers' income tax, national insurance or VAT rates would remain in place.

The prime minister said it costs the NHS around £2.5 billion a year to have people kept in hospital even though they are medically fit to leave because there is no suitable care available in the community.

He suggested the lack of a "preventative front-end social care service" stopping people from going into hospital in the first place was costing the NHS "several billion pounds a year".

He said "I think we owe it to the public before we talk about tax rises" to "do more with what you've got".

But he said that "some of what we want to do in the fuller sense will require difficult, difficult decisions" and "we will be honest with people about those".

In an indication tax hikes to pay for social care could be in Labour's next election manifesto he said: "We will put them before the country at the right time, and we will hopefully proceed with people's consent."

Burnham indicated he was prepared to gamble his political reputation on getting the changes through.

"This is huge for me," he said.

"I know this will require me to put what political capital I have on the table and it could wear down that political capital in some ways.

"But I'm prepared to do it.

"I'm prepared to do it because this has gone on too long.

"The risks of failing to act are too great."

Burnham, who said he had decided not to speak from his notes but "from the heart" because of the emotional subject, said: "Why am I going to do it?

"Why am I going to do all of those things? For my dad and the millions like him up and down the country."

Before his speech, Burnham, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper and Baroness Casey met residents at the care home in London where he delivered his speech.

When Burnham told one he was the prime minister, the resident replied: "A new one? They keep changing."

Reform UK's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said his party would fight any attempt to introduce a "universal death tax" to fund social care.

"Yes, we'll make social care work properly, but not with a mammoth tax assault," the former Tory cabinet minister said.

"Instead we'll cut the ridiculous spending the failed political establishment has imposed on our country for 30 years."

The Green Party's Westminster leader Ellie Chowns – who, like Reform, was excluded from the cross-party talks – said it was "deeply disappointing" her group was not invited.

"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," she said.

Commons Health and Social Care Committee chairwoman Layla Moran said "this time it needs to be different" after 22 previous attempts to reform the system.

"Getting this right speaks to what kind of society we want to be and I'm glad this Prime Minister is putting his political heft behind it," the Liberal Democrat MP said.

Natasha Curry, deputy director of policy at the Nuffield Trust health think tank, said: "Getting the public onside through an honest conversation about the difficult choices ahead and reducing the inherent political jeopardy around reform will be essential if plans are to survive beyond the next election.

"Burnham has made a good call by not moving on to questions of tax and funding yet. We need to settle what we as a society want social care to do before deciding the fairest way to fund it."

By David Hughes, Christopher McKeon and Aine Fox, Press Association

source: PA

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