Andy Burnham wants to offer access to free social care services to everyone in England, and will put his plans before voters at the next general election. The prime minister told the BBC that it would be a system in which "everyone contributes, everyone is covered". He did not rule out tax rises, acknowledging it may be "difficult or unpopular" with some.
Burnham said he wants to set out his "vision" on Tuesday and Whitehall troubleshooter Baroness Casey, who is conducting a review, will advise on the "best way of doing it". Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the PM was suggesting Labour wanted "more tax rises" to pay for the reforms, adding the Conservatives would not support this. Burnham has made reforming social care one of his flagship policies and has spoken of the experience of his father Roy, who had Alzheimer's and died earlier this month.
While he has been clear on his ambition to make changes to the system, he has yet to explain how any changes would be funded. Adult social care provides state support to help people live more independently, including assistance at home. Unlike the NHS, social care is not free at the point of use.
In England and Northern Ireland, people with savings worth more than £23,250 are not entitled to help with care costs from their council. In Wales and Scotland, different rules apply in terms of eligibility. Speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the prime minister said: "I am talking about a system that works on NHS principles because that is the only way you can make it work.
"There is free personal care elsewhere in the UK. I don't think it's right that people in England don't get the same and it's not something we're going to rush." Personal care offered in Scotland is available to all adults who are assessed as needing help with tasks including eating and bathing. Burnham said the changes would have to be "done carefully, without putting extra strain on the public purse".
But he said that "nothing is off the table at this moment in time" in terms of how the proposals would be funded. When he was told it had been estimated that a system for everyone in England that is free at the point of use could cost taxpayers £18bn a year, Burnham replied: "It's not that high." He said people already face a "huge cost" at the moment and that social care in England is "as unfair as American healthcare, where the most vulnerable in society can lose everything, they can be wiped out". Asked whether everyone will have to contribute to his proposed system, Burnham replied: "It will be a system of that kind – so everyone contributes, everyone is covered but not precisely necessarily in the same way that we currently pay for the NHS." He said the details developed by Baroness Casey would be subject to cross-party talks in a bid to "build consensus".
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