Burnham Proposes Free Social Care for Everyone in England

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has proposed free social care for everyone in England.

He told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he wants a system that works on NHS principles, the BBC reported on 27 September. Social care in England is "as unfair as American healthcare", he said. His alternative, he said, would be one where "everyone contributes, everyone is covered".

The proposal applies to England only. Social care is devolved, so Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own rules. Any change to entitlement or funding in England would not automatically apply elsewhere.

Mr Burnham did not rule out tax rises to fund reform. Such a decision may be "difficult or unpopular", he said. He said he will put his plan to voters at the next general election.

He said he will set out his "vision" for social care on Tuesday, with Baroness Casey to advise on the best way of doing it. Baroness Casey was asked by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer to deliver her social care review in 2028. Mr Burnham has asked her to bring it forward to next summer.

Under the current means test in England and Northern Ireland, people with savings worth more than £23,250 are not entitled to help with care costs from their council. The test is a savings check to decide who gets council help. Mr Burnham's argument is that it leaves people exposed to very large bills for help with daily living, while NHS treatment remains free at the point of use.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Labour was suggesting "more tax rises" to pay for reform. The Conservatives would not support this, he said.

The interview is the most detailed account yet of what Mr Burnham means by an NHS model for care. When he first raised the idea in July, he told the BBC that "the NHS will collapse" if social care is not reformed, but said he could not put a timeline on change.

He has since sought to fill in the policy. He delivered a speech on social care in Golders Green on 29 July 2026, in which he pledged to "lift up" workers through pay and training. His plans as set out that month include a new national care service with closer integration between social care and the NHS, alongside more pay and better training for care workers.

That language is familiar at Westminster. Labour proposed a 'National Care Service' modelled on the NHS when Mr Burnham was health secretary. He pledged to overhaul the system on taking office, promised to use his 'political capital' to tackle the issue, and called for cross-party efforts. The costs of social care have surged. Wes Streeting is the Health and Social Care Secretary.

The broader context here is funding and consent. A universal, tax-funded offer would move England away from means-testing towards pooling of risk, sharing the cost across the population like insurance. That raises three familiar Whitehall questions. First, the revenue mechanism and who pays most. Second, the timetable for legislation and implementation within a Parliament. Third, the workforce settlement that would sit underneath any new entitlement.

In my view, the politics are now clearer than the policy. By linking reform to a manifesto vote, Mr Burnham has given himself cover for unpopular revenue choices while inviting the Opposition to define its own position. For those who work in the system, the points to watch are the Casey timetable, the Treasury response to any tax proposal, and whether cross-party talks produce scope for legislation that can survive a change of government.