A national grassroots movement representing thousands of care providers across the UK has written an open letter to Andy Burnham, urging him to drive long-overdue reform of the social care system. 

Providers Unite, a coalition backed by more than 4,000 people who work in and draw on care services, has made the letter available for supporters to sign and email to the new Prime Minister through its latest campaign, Care About Care. 

The letter seizes on Burnham’s return to Parliament and his recent emotive comments on the care sector. It urges him to use his new platform to push through immediate reform.

During his by-election campaign in Makerfield, Burnham spoke about his father’s experience of drawing on the care system and the team who care for him, praised the dedication of care workers, and was clear that the sector needs urgent change.

More recently, Burnham has said he will "grasp the nettle" on reforming social care.

The campaign’s letter argues that social care should be treated as essential national infrastructure, and that investing in it is one of the surest routes to the “good growth” Burnham believes the economy needs.

It points out that social care supports nearly 900,000 people, employs 1.6 million and contributes £78 billion to the economy, more than the entertainment and tourism sectors. Skills for Care research shows that every £1 invested in social care delivers £2.40 in wider economic benefit.

As part of its call to action, Care About Care is urging immediate measures to stabilise the sector while longer-term reform is developed. This includes:

• A £625 annual pay rise for every care worker, funded by exempting care providers from the recent rise in Employer National Insurance Contributions and ringfencing the resulting saving — around £1bn — for frontline pay. This is money that could reach care workers now, rather than waiting for the Fair Pay Agreement due in 2028.

• A fair cost of care, with councils funding services based on an independently calculated cost of delivery, paid in full and on time, and properly resourced by central government to do so.

• A new ‘British Care Fund’, offering infrastructure grants to the small, often family-run providers who deliver around 80% of Britain’s care, so they can modernise services, raise quality and keep serving their communities.

The campaign stresses that all three steps can be taken now, without waiting for the Casey Commission’s report, due in 2028, and the decade of implementation expected to follow.

Katrina Hall, Founder of Providers Unite and the Care About Care campaign, said: “Andy Burnham’s recognition of the challenges facing social care will resonate with millions of people across the country. Yet, the people using care services, their families, and the vital care workers who hold up a failing system have heard promises of reform for decades. What is needed now is action.

“We are calling on [Andy] to make sure one of the first decisions of a new government is one which puts money in care workers’ pockets and invests in the local care providers that sit at the heart of all our communities.

“Now is the moment to make sure our sector’s voice is heard. We need as many people as possible to sign the open letter to ensure that Mr Burnham puts social care at the top of his priorities list.”

The Care Association Alliance, a collective of local care associations from across England, has also urged the PM to honour the commitments he made as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, and again in recent weeks, to overhaul England’s failing social care system.

Commenting, Melanie Weatherley MBE, Co-Chair of the CAA, said: "Social care has been left on the 'too difficult' pile by successive governments for far too long. A change of leadership cannot become another excuse for delay. It must be the moment the country finally grips this.

"Andy Burnham has said he would overhaul adult social care within his first year in office. We welcome that ambition, and today we ask him to stand by it. That means refusing to let the people who need care wait until 2028 for answers, bringing forward the work of the Casey Commission, and committing now to the reform that everything else depends on: a sustainable, national settlement for how care is funded.”