Time is ticking for the new Prime Minister to grasp the nettle on social care reform - Ismail Mulla

There’s a sense of deja vu once again with talk of reforming the social care system. Many Prime Ministers have tried and many have failed. Previous attempts have been scuppered as they were deemed too costly or the idea of putting up taxes was too unpalatable.

Andy Burnham has been here before too. Back in 2010, when he was health secretary under Gordon Brown, he set out plans to reform the social care system.

His 2010 plans to overhaul social care for the elderly with the creation of a national care service for England were duly scuppered by the Conservatives, who claimed Labour would levy a “death tax” to pay for it.

It is very much a case of unfinished business for the new Prime Minister but Burnham must learn lessons from past prime ministers if he is to successfully deliver social care reform.

Boris Johnson tried to grasp the nettle on social care, only for those plans to come to nothing. Sir Keir Starmer fell into the trap of dither and delay as his government commissioned yet another review.

This isn’t a criticism of Baroness Louise Casey’s bona fides, campaigners for social care reform will agree that she is indeed more than capable of laying down the groundwork that many hope will lead to the founding of a properly funded National Care System, on a level footing with the NHS.

However, when you have the Dilnot report from 2011 just sitting on the shelves of Whitehall gathering dust, the frustration of social care campaigners is understandable.

The new Prime Minister is seeking cross-party talks after promising to expend “whatever political capital I have” on fixing England’s social care system, warning the NHS “will collapse” otherwise.

Burnham says other party leaders have already approached him saying they were prepared to engage in talks on social care reform.

He said: “It’s one thing to say that and another to actually then mean it and try and find common ground. But let’s try on this issue.

“No party is in a position where they’ve got the high ground – we’ve all failed on this issue over decades and the pressure now on the National Health Service as a result of that failure is huge.”

The PM is right that this is a collective failure on the part of Westminster. Any party that suggests they do not share in the blame is not being honest with the voters. Burnham is also right to warn that the NHS will collapse unless social care is reformed.

Britain has been given a taste of what a failing social care system means. It is not just those that require social care that suffer. Those that require access to the NHS also pay the price.

Every winter now sees hospitals plunged into crisis. Not enough beds, nurses and doctors rushed off their feet, admin staff unable to release patients into the community owing to a lack of care provision. All the while, the bill to sustain the NHS continues to balloon as it lurches from crisis to crisis.

This has just been a taste of things to come. With an aging population, the problem is only going to get worse unless policymakers grasp the nettle.

Burnham is also right to strike a cautious tone when it comes to finding a cross-party consensus on the issue. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has already written to the PM to challenge him to rule out tax rises or increased borrowing to pay for social care reform. So how exactly would it be funded then?

In the short to mid term, there is only so much money that can be shuffled out of the NHS towards a National Care Service. Ultimately, difficult decisions will have to be made on the allocation of funding towards the NHS but while it is in a state of crisis and the social care system is on its knees then funding has to start somewhere.

The idea of just cutting the bloated welfare bill to pay for each and every policy decision, including defence, may appeal to some but that can only go so far before it becomes punitive.

What Burnham does need to remember is that the Labour Government is sitting on a more than comfortable majority. As Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund health charity, said: “I think if he’s really serious then he could, with a large majority, introduce a new system before the end of the Parliament, and he could bring forward some measures.”

But time is of the essence. Two years have already been wasted by Starmer’s Government. Burnham cannot afford to waste another two years.