Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is urging political parties to reach a cross-party agreement on the future of social care in England, according to The Guardian. The call comes amid warnings from Burnham that the NHS will collapse without reform, as reported by the BBC.
Burnham has indicated support for a 10 percent levy on estates, which The Telegraph and The Times have described as a "death tax," to fund free social care for the elderly. The proposal would apply to all estates, not just the largest, according to reports. Meanwhile, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has hinted at the creation of a "National Care Service" to overhaul the current system, Channel 4 reports.
The push for consensus follows decades of failed attempts to fix social care funding, a politically sensitive issue that successive governments have avoided. Burnham's intervention comes as the NHS faces mounting pressure from an aging population and rising demand for both health and care services. The Guardian notes that the mayor is seeking agreement before the next general election.
Attention now turns to whether the government will formally back a cross-party process, and if the proposed estate levy can gain sufficient political support to become policy.
