Keir Starmer's speech at the LGA Labour Leaders’ Summit

After the announcements from the government this week, I wanted to start off by saying a few words about social care.

The Tories’ half-baked plans on social care won’t work, aren’t fair, and don’t improve the quality of care. Working people will pay more tax now, but might still have to sell their home to pay even more later. This poorly thought through mess fails even that modest test. Boris Johnson set as his guarantee at the general election. This government is hitting working families and businesses hard, at the worst possible time with the pandemic, when they are least able to deal with it.

It’s clear: the Tories do not have a plan to fix social care; The cap on care costs isn’t really a cap on care costs, people in care homes will continue to face charges for hundreds of pounds a week for their care, even after their hit the cap, it fails people currently in the social care system given it doesn’t even start until 2023, the extra funding for social care won’t be enough to deal with the immediate pressures on the system and the Prime Minister can’t and won’t guarantee that his plan means that you won’t have to sell your house to pay for care.

This is an unfair plan that doesn’t work. And who is left with the bill? It’s working people. It’s especially low earners and young people who have already borne the brunt of the economic impact of the pandemic.

It leaves a private landlord renting out multiple properties not paying a penny more in tax, and their hard-working tenants to pick up the burden, it sees an Amazon worker’s taxes raised, but Amazon itself able to squirrel profits away in tax havens and only pay a fraction of what high street shops do, and it means our care workers aren’t given a pay rise but are expected to pay more in tax.

This unfair plan hits businesses who are just getting back on their feet and it’s an unfair plan for local authorities too who will be asked to pick up this failure.

Local Authorities have been at the forefront of this pandemic working all the hours God sends. And we’re already facing rising waiting lists, massive staff vacancies and a hugely fragile care market.

Yet even the announcement of funding is just for the NHS, and there’s no extra money for councils for now. And we can’t trust the Conservative to move any money later. The government have admitted they’re expecting local authorities to make up for shortfalls in funding, and cover increasing need and rising costs.

So let’s be clear what that means: the government is yet again forcing local authorities to put up Council Tax. This is after £8bn of devastating cuts. And the government’s failure to meet its promise to re-compensate local authorities for the extra costs of the pandemic.

The Government is also placing an extra burden on local authorities by asking them to arrange care for self-funders. But far from driving better value – this runs the real risk of breaking already precarious care homes. And the continuation of pushing more pressures to local authorities runs the risk of pushing more over the edge. If these plans aren’t fixed, it will mean care homes or councils going bust.

The government act like there was no alternative but there clearly was. The money could have been raised by taxing the incomes of landlords, and those who buy and sell large quantities of financial assets, stocks and shares.

Labour are clear we would ask those with the broadest shoulders to carry the burden. And whilst the government have given us a tax rise without a plan for social care let me say a few words on what Labour would deliver.

Labour’s aim isn’t just to ‘fix the crisis in social care’ – as the Prime Minster has repeatedly promised but failed to deliver. Instead, Labour’s vision for social care is to ensure all older and disabled people get the support they need to live the life they choose.

We would: transform access to care making sure every older and disabled person who needs support get it where they need it; enshrine a principle of ‘Home First’ care and shift the focus to prevention and early intervention; champion independent and fulfilling lives for working age adults with disabilities – so people have choice and control over the support they get, and their views drive change in the system; deliver a New Deal for care workers. We can’t deliver good social care without the workforce to match; and we would ensure partnership with families - ensuring unpaid carers get the support they need. But it’s disappointing we don’t have a government willing to show the same ambition.

Instead, we’ve got a rushed out, half baked, mess that: Won’t give social care the resources needed; won’t actually reform social care; won’t create more and better paid jobs; isn’t fair across the regions or generations; and won’t stop people selling off their homes to fund care

No wonder the whole thing is unravelling. No wonder the Prime Minister is trying to rush it through parliament in a single day. And that’s why Labour will continue to fight against it.