Andy Burnham will make a speech on social care next week, part of what a No 10 source said is an attempt to show he is "hitting the ground running" as prime minister. The address will be followed by separate announcements on youth unemployment and devolution in the coming week — three areas Downing Street described as "some of the most difficult issues facing the country that have been ignored for too long".
The speech marks Burnham's first major policy intervention since taking office. He first proposed a universal system of social care in England in 2009 when he was health secretary under Gordon Brown, and has vowed to spend political capital on the issue as prime minister. A No 10 source said: "Andy is going to run towards problems that have been neglected, giving people hope again." Another source added: "He has the courage to fix the most difficult issues that have been ignored for years and seen as impossible to resolve. He doesn't accept that they are. They can't be ignored any longer."
“Burnham to deliver social care speech as part of bid to show he is 'hitting the ground running'”
Unlike the NHS, social care is not free at the point of use, and people with savings worth more than £23,250 are not entitled to help with the cost of care from their local council. Burnham is not the first leader to pledge reform. In 2019, Boris Johnson said the Conservative Party would "fix the crisis in social care once and for all". Five years later, in July 2024, Keir Starmer faced criticism when Labour scrapped plans for an £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England would need to spend on personal care over their lifetime.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who has pushed for social care reform, said on Saturday: "This has to be the start of a real effort to end the social care catastrophe." He added: "I'll fight to ensure family carers aren't forgotten. We need cross-party consensus, and I hope the PM's door is open." Burnham responded on X: "It most certainly is, Ed. Let's work together to find some common ground."
Kevin Hollinrake, chairman of the Conservative Party, said: "Where's the money coming from, Andy? We're all dying to know. It is all well and good for the prime minister to promise to fix the issues facing our country, but how is he going to pay for them?"
Pollster Luke Tryl, of the research group More in Common, said voters like that Burnham "has hit the ground running". In his first week, Burnham has already pledged to end rough sleeping in England, cut VAT from domestic electricity bills in the current financial year, and reduce the cap — but the question of funding, as Hollinrake put it, remains unanswered.
