This week I’m very glad to welcome the Prime Minister’s latest announcement on fixing the broken social care system. Andy Burnham is making the choice to find common ground across party lines to tackle the big issues.
For years, those who rely on care, unpaid carers and our fantastic social care workforce have been calling for a system that is properly funded, sustainable and focused on people’s needs. By bringing parties together to build consensus, we have the opportunity to deliver reforms that go beyond this Parliament and give the sector the certainty it has been crying out for.
Our Labour government is committed to rebuilding public services and ensuring everyone can live with dignity, independence and security. This is a reality I am committed to working towards with colleagues from across Parliament, to ensure people in Luton South and South Bedfordshire and across the country can access the care they need.
The Prime Minister has reiterated the need for a new kind of politics that puts differences aside in order to come together and face up to challenges that Westminster has left unaddressed for too long. Delivering on that pledge, Andy Burnham has met with the two main parties, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, to kickstart this work and discuss how to drive urgent reform on social care.
Alongside this work, Baroness Louise Casey is leading the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care, drawing up recommendations to deliver a National Care Service. Baroness Casey is launching a Big Conversation on Care, which will give the public their chance to share their views and help shape the future of adult social care in England so that it is designed for the people it is there to serve.
It will be open to everyone through a new online platform, starting off the conversation by asking people about the values and principles we should all expect from a social care system. I strongly encourage residents across Luton South and South Bedfordshire to feed into this conversation, which can be accessed here: https://caseycommission.co.uk/bigconversation/
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:
“Last week I said we needed a different kind of politics: problem-solving, not point-scoring. Nowhere is that more urgent than social care.
“For decades, governments have kicked this issue down the road because they’ve seen it as too risky, too difficult, and too complicated.
“Politicians might have different views but I’m serious about fixing this issue and to do that, we have to find common ground and listen to others to find a way forward.
“It’s time to draw a line under people playing politics when the human cost of that means carers struggling, families paying the price and our NHS buckling under the strain.
“This comes down to a choice. We can carry on passing the problem to the next generation, or we can face it head on and work together to build a care system that gives people dignity, security and the support they deserve.
“This is about bringing back hope that we can finally fix the difficult issues that have been ignored for too long, and making Britain believe again.
“That’s why I’m making this choice and I’m prepared to put everything I’ve got behind it.”