Stories

Wed, 29 Jul 2026

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 Andy Burnham wants to fix social care - what are the options?

With Andy Burnham saying he wants to bring "substantial change" to social care in England, BBC Verify looks at what could be done.
Four possible approaches to reform are identified:
* Capping lifetime care costs with the government picking up the bill above a certain threshold, estimated to cost between £1.3bn and £2.2bn per year.
* Raising the means test threshold for local authority financial support in residential care homes from £23,250 to potentially £100,000, costing £1.8bn per year over three years.
* Implementing a Scottish-style system where everyone who is eligible receives state-funded personal care free at the point of use, estimated to cost £7.5bn per year by 2036.
* Setting up a national care service similar to the NHS, with an estimated additional annual cost of £19bn by 2036. These proposals are not mutually exclusive and previous reform plans have often combined elements from multiple approaches.