Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was frustrated that social care was not high enough on Keir Starmer’s agenda as he backed Andy Burnham to make it a priority
Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting has backed Andy Burnham to finally sort out Britain’s social care crisis – saying it was not high enough on Keir Starmer’s agenda.
Mr Streeting, who quit the Cabinet in May in protest over the PM’s leadership, said he has “no doubt” that the new leader will prioritise the issue. Mr Streeting told Sky News on Sunday he was frustrated that fundamental issues around social care had not been addressed since Labour returned to power.
It is expected that Mr Burnham – whose dad Roy has Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a care home – will start setting out his position on social care this week. Mr Streeting told Sky News: “For my part, as the former Social Care Secretary, there are things that I’m proud of – the biggest expansion of Carer’s Allowance, the investment that went in increasing disabled facilities grant and so on.
“But my frustration was, and I said this immediately after leaving the government, my frustration was I couldn’t get social care higher enough on the government’s overall agenda. And that’s a problem because there are two big fundamental questions we need to address.
“One is what is it we think social care should do. And secondly, how should it be funded? And successive governments, for reasons I understand, have treated it like the third rail of British politics.”
But he went on: “It’s why Andy Burnham’s leadership matters, because I have no doubt that he will prioritise this issue. I think you’ll see him this week spelling out why and how he intends to grip this issue, and why it means so much to him in a way that I think will resonate with so many people across the country.”
In a speech this week Mr Burnham is expected to say he will “face it and fix it” following years of undelivered promises from successive governments.
Unlike NHS care, social care is not free at the point of use – with high costs meaning people can be forced to sell their homes to pay for what they need. People with savings worth more than £23,250 are not entitled to help with the cost of care from their local council. Mr Burnham has already pledged to “use some of my political capital” on the issue.
Last month there were 14,000 people stuck in hospital each day in England – mainly because they cannot get social care to be safely discharged somewhere else. This was up 70% since 2021.
A No 10 source said: “Andy is going to run towards problems that have been neglected, giving people hope again.
“He has the courage to fix the most difficult issues that have been ignored for years and seen as impossible to resolve. He doesn’t accept that they are.
“They can’t be ignored any longer. The Prime Minister is determined to show that governments can make people’s lives better if they choose to. He wants to get Britain believing again.”
A review into adult social care is being chaired by Baroness Louise Casey, with a first set of recommendations due to be published later this year. It will be followed by a second phases reporting back in 2028.
Mr Starmer said the commission should “start a national conversation” about how social care is provided and funded.