Andy Burnham said Baroness Louise Casey’s adult social care review will report in 2027, a year earlier than planned. He said it will examine creating a national care service in England. The announcement came during a speech on adult social care in England and his first question and answer session since he became prime minister last week.
Andy Burnham and care pay
Burnham said carers should be “the best paid people in society, not the worst” and pledged to “lift up” care workers through pay and training. He also warned that the NHS could collapse if the system was not reformed.
Those comments set out the scale of the pressure on a system used mainly by elderly people and by people with an illness or disability. In England, anyone with savings worth more than £23,250 is not entitled to help with care costs from their council.
Baroness Casey review
The review led by Baroness Casey will now report in 2027, instead of later. Burnham said the work would look at whether England needs a national care service, which would change how support is organised and who pays for it.
Social care is mostly provided by companies rather than directly by the state, and it is a devolved issue in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. That leaves England as the place where the review’s findings would have the clearest immediate effect.
Funding and cross-party talks
Burnham said there would be a “cross-party” approach on social care, but also said there would be “difficult decisions” on funding. He added that more could be done with existing resources, which points to a choice between raising money, changing how it is spent, or both.
For people who need council support, the practical question is whether the review leads to a new national system that changes the £23,250 threshold, care-worker pay, and the training rules that shape what support they receive. Baroness Casey’s report in 2027 is the point at which those choices should start to become concrete.
