Andy Burnham is coming under increasing pressure to explain how he will fund his spending pledges, after it emerged that the new prime minister intends to make a start on fixing social care next week.
Mr Burnham said on his first day in office that he did not want to end his time as prime minister without having taken the difficult decisions required to fix the social care crisis in England, which he claims has bedevilled governments for almost three decades.
However, after a series of mini pledges on cutting business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues, taking VAT off energy bills, and capping bus tickets at £2, Mr Burnham has been challenged by the Conservatives to explain where the money is coming from.
When he was health secretary in 2009, Mr Burnham attempted fix the social care crisis by seeking cross-party support for a levy to fund it. However, the Tories at the time turned on him and accused him of attempting to invent a new “death tax”.
He now intends to make addressing the crisis a priority in his second week, with a Downing Street source saying he “has the courage” to fix the problems and make tough choices. He is also expected to make interventions on youth unemployment and devolution in the coming days.
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 [are] 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.”
Unlike NHS care, social care is not free at the point of use, and the high cost of it sometimes means that people are 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 [his] political capital” on the issue.
But in 2019, Boris Johnson said in his first speech as prime minister that the Conservatives would “fix the crisis in social care once and for all” – a pledge that failed to come to fruition.
After winning the 2024 election under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer, Labour faced criticism for scrapping plans for an £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England would need to spend on their personal care over their lifetime, having argued that the proposal was not “deliverable” in the time frame.
Mr Burnham said the failure of governments to act over the course of recent decades was “not defensible”.
The prime minister and his pick for chancellor, John Healey, are already under pressure to explain how they will sustain a raft of support packages they have announced for bus passengers, energy consumers, and people who drink in pubs.
The Resolution Foundation, an independent think tank, has estimated that this week’s pledges will cost more than £2bn in 2029-30, and will squeeze fiscal headroom to as little as £8bn.
Mr Burnham has been accused by the Tories of going on a spending spree.
In a letter to Mr Healey, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride accused the prime minister of making “unfunded promises”, and said the country “cannot afford to tax or spend or borrow our way into avoiding difficult decisions”. He said the prime minister’s pledges will add to concerns about tax rises at the next Budget.
Sir Mel said: “Andy Burnham came into office without a plan. He has made numerous promises, but seems to have little idea how he will pay for any of them.
“These unfunded pledges will only add to concern and speculation about yet more Labour tax rises at the next Budget, as well as yet more borrowing, leaving a crippling burden for future generations.
“Britain cannot afford that – and businesses and households should not be left in the dark. That’s why I’m calling on John Healey to come clean on the real cost of Burnham – and tell us who he expects to pay for it.”
But Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey expressed his support for renewed focus on the care sector.
He said: “I really hope that this is the beginning of a serious, lasting effort to end the social care catastrophe. Andy Burnham says he is willing to expend political capital on this, and so am I. I will fight relentlessly to make sure family carers are not forgotten in this debate.”
