Sarah Woodhouse, Director of Policy and Influencing at the VODG (Voluntary Organisations Disability Group), shares her perspective on the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s pledges to fix the social care system, and outlines how a proposed National Care Service should operate to secure a better future for disabled people.

For those of us who have spent years advocating for social care reform, the Prime Minister's commitment to making social care one of the defining missions of this Parliament was significant.

Successive governments have promised change. Too often, social care has been kicked into the long grass, quickly found itself in the ‘too difficult’ pile or become trapped in debates about funding, structures and organisational reform. This time feels a bit different. Andy Burnham has made a personal commitment to fixing a system he describes as unfair, despite knowing how difficult reform will be, while Baroness Casey's Commission and Big Conversation on Care seek a public mandate in a way that's been missing before. 

At the VODG, our members are voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations providing care, support, housing and advocacy for disabled people. Together we have long argued that the experiences of disabled people, families, VCFSE providers and communities must be central to designing the future of care. We have already contributed evidence to Baroness Casey's work and have welcomed the Prime Minister's renewed focus on reform.

But ambition alone will not transform lives.

Good social care promotes independence for all

If the Government wants to build a National Care Service that lasts for generations, it must resist the temptation to see social care simply as an extension of the NHS or as a solution to hospital pressures.

For millions of disabled people of all ages, good social care is what makes it possible to work, raise a family, volunteer, learn, build relationships and participate fully in their communities. It is an investment in people's independence, aspirations and rights.

That distinction matters.

For too long, national conversations about social care have been dominated by understandable concerns about older people's care, delayed discharges and pressures on the NHS. These are important issues, but they are not the whole picture. Disabled children, young people and adults make up a significant proportion of those drawing on care and support, yet their experiences and ambitions are too often absent from public debate.

A National Care Service cannot simply improve today's system. It must reframe how we think about care and support altogether.

That means beginning with a different question. Not "How do we manage demand?" but "What enables disabled people to live the lives they choose?" 

Across England, VODG members support hundreds of thousands of disabled people, families and carers through personalised support, supported living, employment services, community connections, technology-enabled care, housing and opportunities that promote independence. They innovate because they are rooted in communities, work alongside people rather than doing things to them, and continually adapt services around people's aspirations.

The National Care Service should build on these strengths rather than replacing them with greater centralisation or one-size-fits-all models.

Call for action

To that end, there are several priorities we hope the Prime Minister and new Health and Social Care Secretary will now champion.

First, disabled people must help shape every stage of reform. Co-production cannot become another consultation exercise. Decisions about the future of social care should be designed alongside people with lived experience, recognising disabled people as experts in their own lives.

Second, the Government must invest in the workforce. We welcome the Prime Minister's early commitment to strengthening the social care workforce. But workforce reform must recognise the diversity of providers, including VCFSE organisations that reinvest every pound into improving support for people and communities.

Third, the National Care Service should create the conditions for innovation rather than prescribing uniformity. The VCFSE sector has consistently demonstrated how personalised, community-based support delivers better outcomes, economic and social value. Reform should protect and expand that diversity, not unintentionally squeeze it out.

Fourth, sustainable funding remains fundamental. It is impossible to build a world-class care system while expecting providers to absorb rising costs, workforce pressures and increasing complexity. Financial sustainability is not simply about organisational survival; it is about ensuring disabled people continue to receive high-quality, personalised support from organisations they know and trust.

Finally, success should not be measured solely by reductions in NHS waiting lists or hospital admissions. Those outcomes matter, but they are not the purpose of social care. The true test of a National Care Service is whether disabled people have greater choice, more control, better health, stronger relationships, improved employment opportunities and fuller participation in community life.

Reform requires more than political courage

The Prime Minister has spoken about using his political capital to achieve reforms that have defeated governments for decades. That determination is encouraging. But lasting reform will require more than political courage. It will require government to trust the expertise that already exists across the VCFSE sector and to work in genuine partnership with disabled people, families and carers.

There is a rare opportunity before us.

If a National Care Service is built around independence rather than dependency, communities rather than institutions, and rights rather than transactions, it has the potential to transform millions of lives.

VODG and our members stand ready to help make that vision a reality.