Summary

  • Andy Burnham has given a speech on adult social care in England, after earlier warning the NHS could "collapse" if the system was not reformed

  • Burnham began by talking about care given to his father, who has Alzheimer's. He said carers "should be the best paid people in society, not the worst"

  • The prime minister confirmed that a review by Baroness Casey would report a year earlier than planned - 2027 - and would look at creating a "national care service"

  • He also pledged to "lift up" care workers through pay and training, and said there would be a "cross-party" approach on social care

  • On funding, he said there would be "difficult decisions" but that more could be done with existing resources

  • There have been 22 failed attempts to update the system in the past 30 years, writes our correspondent Alison Holt

  • Social care involves help for someone with an illness or disability, and is a devolved issue - meaning governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland run their own systems

  • It is mostly provided by companies rather than directly by the state, and is mainly used by elderly people. Read this explainer for more

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  1. Burnham says he'd stick to Labour's manifesto commitments on taxpublished at 11:14 BST

    Burnham was asked if he will rule out tax rises and whether he can commit to 3% of GDP spending on defence by 2030.

    Burnham says he will stick to commitments made in the Labour manifesto, including on taxes.

    On defence spending, Burnham says he will honour Nato commitments. However, he adds, it will mean being prepared to look at challenging issues, including young people not in employment or training.

  2. Burnham's question and answer session endspublished at 11:10 BST

    Andy Burnham, who has short dark hair and glasses, holds his index finger to his chin in a contemplative poseImage source, PA Media

    Andy Burnham has now finished taking questions from the media.

    Over the next few posts, we'll detail some of the queries the new PM faced.

    This marks the first question and answer session Burnham has participated in since he became prime minister last week.

  3. Social care service in England as unfair as America - Burnhampublished at 11:09 BST

    Burnham is then asked about the threshold to qualify for social care help.

    In England, people with savings worth more than £23,250 are not entitled to help with care costs from their council.

    Burnham says he feels service in England is just as unfair as it is in America.

    "The vulnerable pay with everything and it can completely leave them with nothing," he says.

    The prime minister then answers a question on his stance on assisted dying, saying the funding of palliative care and social care needs to be fixed before a wider conversation can be had on the topic.

  4. Burnham says his social care plans will be fully fundedpublished at 10:59 BST

    Andy Burnham, who has short dark hair and glasses, speaks while wearing a business suit

    Burnham is then asked by ITV News if the government can realistically transform social care without raising taxes.

    The PM says this is a question of standards within organisations, adding that care is variable across different organisations.

    He says there is profiteering in the sector and "unnecessary and dangerous" cost cutting on the backs of vulnerable people.

    Burnham adds more can be done with existing resources and clarifies that today's announcements will be fully funded.

    He says that there will be some things that the government wants to do that will "require difficult decisions" but he will be honest with people about those and put them before the country "at the right time".

  5. Cross-party talks are 'just the start', Burnham sayspublished at 10:55 BST

    The BBC's Alison Holt has asked Burnham what would be different this time, noting that there have been cross-party talks before.

    Referring back to his experience as health secretary in 2009-10, Burnham says reform to social care was probably left too late then as it was too close to a general election.

    "It's better to do it sooner and further away from an election," Burnham says, adding that it's one of the reasons why he's asked Baroness Louise Casey to bring the review forward.

    "I don't know whether it's possible to find agreement, but let's give it a try," he says.

    Responding to whether the proposal for cross-party talks was late notice, Burnham says he had two approaches at the weekend from the Tories and Lib Dems and he was responding to that ask.

    He says these talks are "just the start".

  6. Burnham wants cross-party talks to tackle social care issuepublished at 10:49 BST

    Andy Burnham, who has short dark hair and glasses, speaks while wearing a business suit to a group of people seated around him

    Just before he concluded his speech, Burnham said his third announcement is the initiation of cross-party talks about tackling the issue of social care, describing it as "the right thing to do".

    He adds that such an approach is the "first big test" to ending political point scoring on the topic and Lib Dem leader Ed Davey was right to say there needs to be "give and take" between the parties.

    Burnham says common ground must be found, and "that process starts today".

    He says he wants to do his best to find a solution to social care issues, before adding: "I would never forgive myself if I left without having tried."

    The prime minister ends his speech by striking an emotional tone, saying he is going to tackle the problem "for my dad and the millions like him up and down the country".

  7. Burnham taking questions from mediapublished at 10:47 BST

    Burnham has finished his speech and is now taking questions from the press.

    We will bring you a few more details from his speech here, and then outline what we learn from his Q+A with the media.

  8. Burnham aims to uplift social care work forcepublished at 10:44 BST

    Andy Burnham, who has short dark hair and glasses, speaks while wearing a business suit, with people seatedbehind him listening

    Burnham says the government has agreed a fair pay agreement for social care staff to come in 2028/29 financial year and pays tribute to Keir Starmer for bringing that forward, calling it a "massive building block" of a national care service.

    But he says he wants to discuss how to turn the fair pay agreement into a bigger reform to lift up the social care workforce.

    The PM adds that he wants to lift up the workforce in terms of training too, including a progression route for young people coming into social care so they can progress from social care into NHS positions as well.

  9. Burnham plans to look at creating 'national care service'published at 10:41 BST

    Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he has three main announcements today.

    First, he has asked Baroness Louise Casey to bring forward her review by a year (it was due to report in full in 2028). Burnham would like it to be even sooner but says they have to be "realistic".

    "Social care is different, it has to be person-centred", Burnham says, but adds it also has to be preventative and integrated with the wider health system.

    Burnham says he is asking Casey to deliver a report that outlines how his government can deliver a National Care Service.

    The second announcement is to focus on the social care force. Burnham has asked the ministerial group to look at how to turn the fair pay agreement into a bigger reform, to improve the social care workforce.

    He wants to integrate it more with the NHS workforce.

    His third announcement is a cross-party approach, involving the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

  10. NHS can only be restored with social care reform, says prime ministerpublished at 10:40 BST

    Andy Burnham, who has short dark hair and glasses, speaks while wearing a business suit to a group of people seated in a circle around him

    Burnham continues and says that the social care system is "intrinsically linked" to the NHS, which he says cannot be "restored" without social care reform.

    He says the country needs to face up to fixing social care "with a new determination".

    The prime minister adds people need to try their best to solve "this issue", because it "affects all of us in one way or another".

  11. Adults with disabilities facing unfair charges need to be recognised - Burnhampublished at 10:39 BST

    Burnham goes on to say that it is estimated around two million adults in England have unmet care needs.

    He adds that adults with disabilities who say they face unfair care charges need to be recognised - and adds that the situation is bad for NHS staff too.

    The prime minister says it is very difficult to "stop the drag of the system" once people are hospitalised, calling it a "lose-lose situation". He says that people being discharged is a pressure the NHS "struggles to meet".

  12. Burnham says politicians to blame for social care challengespublished at 10:30 BST

    Burnham says that there is only one group to blame for current challenges in social care - and that is his generation of politicians.

    He says there has been a "major dereliction of public duty that parliament has not faced up to this of all challenges".

    The PM says it is "shameful" that politicians have put point scoring above fixing this issue.

    Burnham
  13. Care teams 'should be best paid' in society - Burnhampublished at 10:27 BST

    Andy Burnham, who has short dark hair and glasses, speaks while wearing a business suit

    Prime Minister Andy Burnham starts by saying that some in the room will be having a sense of "déjà vu", but "this time we're going to do it".

    Drawing on his lived experiences, as his father has Alzheimer's, Burnham says the only thing he can do is talk from those emotions to make the change.

    He starts by praising caring teams, saying he's been "overwhelmed" by their care, skills and professionalism.

    "To me, they should be the best paid people in society, not the worst," Burnham says.

    He also points to how many people from other countries have been caring for his father.

    "I want those carers to know we appreciate you, we appreciate what you are doing to support people here [in the UK]," he adds.

  14. Baroness Casey announces new social care consultation processpublished at 10:25 BST

    Baroness Louise Casey, who has shoulder-length fair hair, in a grey jacket

    Cooper then hands over to Baroness Louise Casey, who is speaking before Burnham.

    She says that for the past 18 months she has heard how people are living in "difficult circumstances" and that in some cases, the state is making it worse.

    She says that some of the answers in her review will need to be modest, while others will be "not so modest".

    Out of all the 22 reviews into social care, she says no government consulted the public when consdering social care reform.

    Baroness Casey says that hospitals are filled with "huge numbers of frail, elderly people...that simply never needed to be there in the first place".

    She announces that she is launching the Big Conservation on Care - a consultation process on social care that will address questions surrounding when the state steps in and who pays.

    Baroness Casey describes this as "a game changer".

  15. We can't keep walking away from this problem, says health secretarypublished at 10:21 BST

    Yvette Cooper, who has short blonde hair, wearing a grey suit jacket

    Before the prime minister started speaking, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper took to the stage.

    She says that the topic is "personal for many of us and matters for all of us".

    Later this year, the government will introduce a "dementia tsar", she says.

    Cooper shares that her own mother has dementia and that there have been 22 different attempts to reform social care since she was elected to Parliament.

    She adds: "We cannot keep walking away from this problem."

    The health secretary says that alongside the Casey review, she will chair a new ministerial group to accelerate government response to issues.

  16. Burnham begins speaking - watch livepublished at 10:18 BST

    Prime Minister Andy Burnham has started speaking.

    We will bring you key lines here. You can also watch his speech live in the stream at the top of the page.

  17. Reform and Greens feel snubbed from cross-party talkspublished at 10:08 BST

    Harry Farley
    Political correspondent

    While the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will attend the talks today with Andy Burnham, other parties including Reform UK and the Greens are not invited.

    Nigel Farage said it was evidence of "the uniparty in action" - essentially his accusation is the traditional three big parties are part of the same establishment.

    "It’s now clear that Burnham is conspiring behind closed doors with the failed political establishment to foist further tax rises on the country," he said.

    The Green Party, I understand, is also irritated particularly because they - unlike Reform - have a dedicated health spokesperson who has offered to work with the new prime minister.

    From speaking to people in government, the response they give is this is just the first of many cross-party talks in the weeks and months ahead. They add that Ed Davey from the Lib Dems and Kemi Badenoch from the Conservatives have both approached Andy Burnham to work together on social care.

    But the talks this afternoon are just the start of a months' long process, not a major summit with any conclusion expected.

  18. Efforts to reform social care ongoing for 30 yearspublished at 10:04 BST

    Alison Holt
    Social affairs editor

    The prime minister is staking a lot on achieving meaningful reform of the care system that supports older and disabled people in England.

    There have been 22 failed attempts to update it in the past 30 years, including his own 2009 plan to introduce a National Care Service funded by a £20,000 levy on people’s estates after they have died. That was labelled a death tax by political opponents.

    He wants to draw a line under the political point scoring which all parties have been involved in.

    The question he will need to answer is: what will be different this time?

  19. Better service means 'less people tripping into hospital', says Caseypublished at 09:54 BST

    Baroness Casey sits in the Today studio, with a green microphone in front of her

    Baroness Louise Casey has said the government "missed a trick" coming into the 21st Century, with public services now having to "keep up" with a much older population.

    The leader of a commission into adult social care in England tells Radio 4's Today programme that the NHS has been withdrawn from communities in recent years, with the number of district nurses and their teams having gone down and people struggling to get GP appointments.

    She says: "If we were much better at running a much better service, whether it's care or health in the community in the first place, you would have less people tripping into hospital."

    Casey says her vision for the country is a national health service that is "delivered locally by local people".

  20. The politics of social care (and cross-party talks)published at 09:51 BST

    Andy Burnham has said "the NHS will collapse" if social care is not reformed but he could not put a timeline on changes.

    In an letter to the prime minister at the weekend, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch urged him to rule out tax rises in order to fund any reforms to social care.

    Burnham invited the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats for cross-party talks on the best way forward to reform social care in England.

    Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey - who has repeatedly said the "current system is broken" - said he would attend remotely. Badenoch cannot be there and is sending shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew instead.

    Burnham did not invite the leaders of the Green Party or Reform UK.

    Reform leader Nigel Farage complained of the snub, while Green leader Zack Polanski saw the invitation of opposition leaders as "positive".