Andy Burnham has called England's social care system "broken" and wants a government review of how to fix it to be finished by the end of 2026 — nearly two years earlier than the 2028 deadline set by Keir Starmer. Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester and a former health secretary, also told BBC News he was open to scrapping inheritance tax altogether and instead taxing "the wealthy properly while they are alive".

The remarks came as part of a BBC News look at the challenges Burnham would face if he became UK leader one day, covering defence spending, housing and social care. The article, published on 17 July 2026, features a composite image of Burnham outside No 10 Downing Street.

What is social care?

Social care means practical help for older and disabled people with everyday tasks — washing, dressing, eating and so on. In England, it is provided mostly by private companies, not the NHS. Around two million older people are not getting the help they need. About one in ten people aged 65 and over could face care costs above £100,000 over their lifetime. Governments have tried to reform the system for years and each attempt has failed.

Burnham proposed changes when he was health secretary, but his plan was dropped after Labour lost the 2010 election. In 2011, a review by Andrew Dilnot suggested capping lifetime care costs at around £35,000. Conservative ministers agreed to the idea in principle. It was never put into practice.

In 2017, Theresa May proposed counting the value of a person's home when deciding whether they qualified for help with care at home. The policy was deeply unpopular and was blamed for the Conservatives losing their majority in that election.

A national care service

Labour's 2024 manifesto promised a new "national care service". Starmer then asked Baroness Casey to review the options for reforming social care, with a final report due by 2028. Burnham now says he would ask Casey to finish by the end of 2026 instead.

How would it be paid for?

Burnham first suggested a 10% tax on all estates through inheritance tax. He has since changed tack, saying he is open to scrapping inheritance tax entirely and taxing wealth while people are still alive. The shift suggests he is testing different ideas in public rather than picking one approach.

The broader picture is that social care reform has beaten every health secretary and prime minister who has tried it for nearly two decades. Burnham is in an unusual spot: he was the last health secretary to attempt a full overhaul from inside government, and now he is positioning himself to try again from outside it. A faster deadline would mean less time for consultation and drafting, but it would also reduce the chance of the report being quietly forgotten.

The tax proposals raise their own questions. A 10% tax on all estates would affect many more families than the current system, which only applies to estates worth more than £325,000 (with various exemptions). Burnham's idea of taxing wealth during life avoids that problem, but creates new ones — such as how you work out what someone's wealth is worth, whether they can pay without selling their home, and whether it is fair between generations. The key point is that both ideas are now out in the open, open to scrutiny from Treasury officials, the Office for Budget Responsibility (which checks the cost of government policies) and the care sector alike.

Does this apply to the whole UK?

No. Social care is run separately by each nation. The plans under discussion relate to England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each run their own systems through their own parliaments — Holyrood in Scotland, the Senedd in Wales and Stormont in Northern Ireland. A "national care service" would, in practice, be an English one unless the other nations chose to take part or agreed their own separate arrangements.