Care About Care Writes to Newly Elected Andy Burnham as Sector Calls for Urgent Reform
A national grassroots movement representing thousands of care workers and service users has written to a newly elected MP, urging them to use their parliamentary platform to drive long-overdue reform of the social care system.
Care About Care, which is run by Providers Unite and counts more than 4,000 supporters drawn from across the care sector, has addressed the open letter to the MP following their election to the constituency of Makerfield.
The campaign — which has already engaged over 250 individual MPs — praised the politician’s pre-election commitment to the sector, which included a personal account of a family member receiving care, and a frank acknowledgement that the system is broken and exploits those who sustain it.
The movement is calling for three immediate measures to stabilise the sector ahead of any longer-term structural reform.
First, Care About Care is calling for an immediate £625-a-year pay increase for every care worker. The campaign argues this could be funded by exempting care providers from the recent Employer National Insurance increase, with the resulting £1 billion saving ringfenced specifically to boost frontline pay — delivering meaningful financial benefit to workers well ahead of the expected 2028 start date of the Fair Pay Agreement.
Second, the movement is pressing for a fair cost of care, whereby council funding for care services is calculated on an independently assessed basis and paid in full and on time — with local authorities themselves properly resourced by central government to meet that obligation. The campaign argues that routine underfunding of care services effectively encourages unlawful employment practices throughout the sector.
Third, Care About Care is proposing the creation of a new British Care Fund to provide infrastructure grants to the small, predominantly family-run, community-based providers that deliver approximately 80% of care in Britain. Supporters argue such investment would enable providers to modernise their services, improve quality, and continue meeting the needs of local communities.
The letter draws attention to the scale of the sector’s economic contribution. Social care currently supports nearly 900,000 people to live independently, employs 1.6 million people — surpassing NHS employment figures — and contributes an estimated £78 billion annually to the UK economy, outstripping both the entertainment and tourism industries.
Research by Skills for Care indicates that every £1 invested in the social care system generates £2.40 in wider economic benefit.
The campaign emphasises that its three asks can be implemented without waiting for the Casey Commission Phase One and Phase Two reports or the anticipated decade of subsequent reform — providing a route to near-term stabilisation of a sector under significant strain.
Care About Care stressed that action is needed not only to shore up services, but to demonstrate that political promises can translate into tangible improvements for workers, service users, and communities across the country.
