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Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been urged to exercise caution following his announcement of ‘wider reform' of the social care workforce.In a major speech today, Burnham said he wanted to ‘focus on the care workforce' and undertake ‘wider reform' building on the recently-completed fair pay agreement (FPA), with work to begin ‘immediately'.He spoke of a National Care Service that would be ‘highly integrated' with the National Health Service (NHS).Burnham wanted to ‘think about it as one workforce' with care workers progressing from social care into the NHS.But think-tanks have warned of unintended consequences arising from the PM's approach.Nuffield Trust deputy director of policy, Natasha Curry, said: ‘If this includes creating routes into NHS jobs without making social care a workplace that's as attractive as the NHS, the Government risks the care system simply losing experienced workers to the health service.'Chief executive of the King's Fund, Sarah Woolnough, added: ‘Improving pay across the sector and providing career paths for younger people would go a long way to addressing the stubbornly high vacancies, although the cost will likely be significant.'The Local Government Association also reiterated the need for more funding and closer involvement in the process set out earlier this month.Chair Cllr Eamonn O'Brien said: ‘Proposed funding is not likely to be sufficient to cover the full cost of an FPA.‘Local government must be part of decision-making to avoid a scenario where an FPA jeopardises the supply of care and sustainability of council finances.'Burnham said the system was currently ‘paying for failure' rather than ‘investing in success', but that some change ‘may be possible within existing resources'.He added: ‘Some of the financial solutions may come from doing things differently and unlocking the unproductive spending that we have in wider parts of the system.'Burnham also confirmed in his speech that Baroness Louise Casey's Independent Commission on Adult Social Care would be brought forward by a year, concluding in the summer of 2027 with a ‘big conversation on care' involving the public commencing today.He will begin cross-party talks with the Conservatives and Lib Dems, saying that it was ‘a major dereliction of duty that Parliament has not faced up to this challenge'.The County Councils Network's adult social care spokesperson, Cllr Glen Sanderson, said: ‘Whatever reform is ultimately proposed, local councils must remain delivering adult social care services. They have proven themselves to adeptly deliver – and modernise – local services despite seeing drastic budget cuts for decades.'

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ADULT SOCIAL CARE

Burnham announces social care workforce reform plans

By Martin Ford | 29 July 2026

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