At 10 o’clock this morning, Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for Cross-Party Social Care Talks, speaking in conjunction with Baroness Casey and Yvette Cooper, announced three main initiatives he will be implementing to tackle the social reform crisis that he claims will “collapse” the NHS.
These included bringing forward Baroness Casey’s independent review, having immediate discussions about the social care workforce, and, as of today, initiating cross-party conversations.
Our previous article on Burnham’s social care reform ideas highlight his determination to keep this a central policy, but worries remain that he has, as he himself joked in his speech, “been here before”. In his remarks he:
- “This time, we’re gonna do it”
- Stressed the incredible work of carers saying: “To me, they should be the best-paid people in society, not the worst.”
- Recognised good care organisations, such as Jewish Care, the charity under which he was speaking
- Blamed his own generation of politicians – 30 years since Royal Commission, and 22 unsuccessful reviews
- Called the lack of research into social care a “Major dereliction of public duty”and “shameful”
In Andy Burnham’s opening remarks on the topic, he expressed personal links to social care, through his father’s suffering from Alzheimer’s, and touched briefly upon the idea of the workforce, a point that encompasses one of the three main announcements from his speech. He emphasised the importance of social care staff and organisations, mentioning a sister organisation in Manchester called The Fed, linking to idea of governance throughout England via Number 10 North in addition to 10 Downing Street.
The statistics presented in this speech aimed to showcase the dire situation of the NHS as a result of a poorly established social care system. For example, the growing numbers of people receiving corridor care daily results in burnout of NHS staff, which will not be conducive to a good standard of social care. Critics argue that other factors are the cause as to why the NHS struggles so much, listing issues such as chronic underfunding and staff shortages as a greater priority for the government.
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announcement 1- Bring Forward the Casey Review
- Baroness Casey to bring forward her review by a year (2027)
- Ideally expedited asap, but has to be “realistic”
- Burnham believes bringing the deadline forward will force Government to “Rise to challenge with urgency it requires”
- Building on 2010 New Labour ideas about a proposed national care service
- Review looks into how to deliver national care service that works alongside NHS
- Principle of home care to be implemented wherever possible
The Prime Minister hopes that pushing the survey forward will encourage the Government to put social care at the heart of their policy making. The review will cover “The Big Conversation on Care”, looking into sector pressures and accountability within the government.
Announcement 2 – Fair Pay For Social Care Workers
- Immediate focus on social care workforce development
- Fair pay agreement already agreed → will commence in the financial year of 28/27
- Introduced under Starmer’s Government
- How to push the fair pay agreement into a bigger reform
- “One workforce” between social care and NHS
- Aim to lift social care up to NHS standards
Touched on multiple times throughout his speech, Burnham emphasised the importance of the workforce in the social care sector, calling for them to be “the best paid in society, not the worst”. He argues that these workers deserve recognition and respect, not only to combat issues such as poor living standards and even homeless social care workers, but also to enable staff to keep providing the same level of care without receiving low pay or feeling burnout.
Announcement 3 – Cross-Party Social Care Talks
- Immediate initiation of cross-party talks, commencing today, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats
- Social care will run alongside other government programmes, but will remain a priority
These cross-party talks will help to ensure that any social care reform will be lasting, and perhaps take the sting our of any political backlash from tax increases to pay for reforms. It remains to be seen whether the major parties can work together on this. Previously, social care reform has been derailed by Conservative attacks on Burnham’s previous attempted which they labelled a “death tax” and Labour attacks on Theresa May’s reform plans as a “dementia tax”.
Final Thought
Andy Burnham has picked up where he left off 16 years ago. He is determined to bring the issue of social care to the attention of both the state and the people, emphasising that improvements in social care are an improvement for us all.
This is a huge political project. The statistic of 22 reviews in 30 years, with no sizeable impact on the social care system instills almost no confidence in yet another initiative to “fix” social care. To truly assess the effectiveness of his policies, we will have to see how much of this momentum he can keep up after the summer recess.
You can still get a copy of our new edition of ChamberUK. Our parliamentary journal.
Photo Credit: Number 10