Andy Burnham invitations Tory and Lib Dem leaders for pressing talks to repair crisis-hit social care sector

Tory chief Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader have been asked to meet with the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to tackle a problem governments have kicked into the long-grass for decades

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Andy Burnham has invited opposition leaders for urgent talks to fix the crisis-hit social care sector and give people the dignity and support they deserve.

Tory chief Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey have been asked to meet with the new Prime Minister on Wednesday to tackle a problem governments have kicked into the long-grass for decades. The proposed summit would be an unprecedented chance to grip the issue once and for all.

It comes as Mr Burnham warned ahead of a major speech on Wednesday that the creaking system can no longer be treated as a political football while the NHS and families count the cost.

He said: “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.”

He added: “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.”

‘The NHS will collapse without reform to social care’

Referring to his first speech outside No10 last week, he 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.”

A Tory spokesman told The Mirror on Tuesday evening: “Kemi Badenoch is unable to attend and Stuart Andrew, Shadow Health Secretary, will be attending in her place.”

Sir Ed accepted Mr Burnham’s invitation saying “we need to do things differently”. The Lib Dem leader added: “Our priorities are clear: family carers must be at the heart of any proposals, everyone should be able to get care regardless of means, and no-one should lose their home or life savings on catastrophic care costs.”

It comes after Mr Burnham warned earlier this week the NHS will “collapse” without reform to social care and said he wants to bring in substantial changes before he leaves office. He has frequently cited his personal experience of the care system, as his father lives with Alzheimer’s in a care home.

He has described as “not defensible” a system which can see people lose their homes and savings to pay for care.

According to government figures, an average of 13,600 people a day were stuck in hospital beds in June 2026 despite being medically fit to leave, including some delayed because of a lack of adult social care availability.

The PM – who will also visit a care home on Wednesday – is set to appear alongside Baroness Louise Casey, who has been tasked with leading an independent review into the issue.

It is expected Mr Burnham will announce he is speeding up the Casey Commission – launched by Keir Starmer last year – that had been due to report in 2028, rather than set out a full plan.

Baroness Casey will also launch a ‘Big Conversation on Care’ and invite the pubic to share their views on fixing a problem through an online platform.

She said: “For too long, we have been stuck in the same cycle: crisis, promises of reform, another review, and then retreat, while the people who need care, and their families, bear the brunt. Fixing adult social care is about far more than money.

“People are already paying for failure through council tax, pressure on the NHS, their savings, giving up work, and the forced sale of their homes.”

No plans for ‘death tax’

Baroness Casey added: “The choice is whether we keep putting money into a system that is unfair, unpredictable and broken, or have an honest conversation about how to build something better. That is why we need a public conversation on care that tackles the tough questions. It’s only by facing up to this problem together that we can fix social care once and for all.”

Mr Burnham’s speech also follows a row over funding after Mr Burnham appeared to fail to rule out introducing a care levy on all estates earlier this week.

As Health Secretary under Gordon Brown, Mr Burnham previously backed replacing traditional inheritance tax with a 10 per cent levy on all estates. But plans were ripped up at the time after the Tories accused Labour of a “death tax” to pay for the proposed new care service.

But a government spokesman said earlier this week: “There are no plans for this. Fixing our social care system will require building a broad consensus. The old way of doing politics has held up social care reform for decades.

“Our immediate focus is on working together to find common ground and deliver the reforms needed to fix the future of social care – not imposing one particular solution or tax.”

Care system ‘no longer fit for purpose’

According to Age UK, an estimated 17% of older people have an unmet need for care – equivalent to 1.9 million.

In 2024/25, there were 1.3 million requests for social care support from people aged 65 and over in England. In the same time period in England, 880,000 (67%) requests for social care support from people aged 65+ resulted in no further action.

Age UK’s Caroline Abrahams said the creaking care system “is no longer fit for purpose”.

She added: “Commentators constantly talk about the challenges of social care reform but less often talk about the prize: knowing that if we develop care needs and disabilities as we get older, we will not be abandoned to struggle alone – as happens to almost two million of us at present.

“A reformed system would ensure that there would be some help for us, and hopefully it would be properly joined up with the health care that we typically require as we get older too.

“At Age UK we hear far too many older people who are desperate for good care and support but simply cannot secure it, creating misery and heartache for them and for their families. It’s high time this ended. The Prime Minister is right: we can and we must do better.”