A fair deal for older people: what the National Care Service means for Blackpool
This week I held my series of pensioner surgeries across four locations in Blackpool South. My team and I met with and assisted over 50 pensioners and it was great to be able to share details of the Prime Minister’s plan for a National Care Service with many of them. I know how much this matters.
Nationally, two in three people (66%) say they couldn't afford care and nearly seven in ten (69%) say it's an unfair price to ask anyone to pay.
In Blackpool South it's even starker. Polling by Survation for 38 Degrees this summer estimates that around 73% of people in our area couldn't afford £70,000 a year in social care costs, well above the national average of 68%. In a town where around 40% of residents are aged 50 or over, that fear of getting older is very real.
At one of my pension credit surgery at St Stephen’s on the Cliffs this week
This affects every one of us, whether we're old or not. A broken care system means people stuck in hospital beds when they should be at home, more ambulance call-outs and more A&E admissions. Fixing care will take pressure off our NHS.
This is part of the Prime Minister’s new settlement for older people – a State Pension that rises every year, no care charges, and a National Care Service that provides free personal care. It will be built on the same principle as the NHS, where everyone contributes and everyone is covered, and established as soon as possible in the next Parliament.
Before that happens, Baroness Louise Casey will advise on exactly how and when the service is built and she's holding a National Conversation on Care. The NHS wasn’t built overnight, and it is right that we develop with new service in partnership with residents, pensioners, charities and care providers. It’s vital that we have our say and I’ll be sharing details on how Blackpool can be part of that conversation.
“This is the kind of change that previous governments have talked about for decades and then walked away from, because it’s not an easy thing to do. ”
I understand people’s concern about adjustments to the triple lock, but I want to be clear – under our proposals nobody’s pension will ever go down. The change to the triple lock starts in April 2030 and the State Pension is set to rise by over £2,000 and reach almost 30% of average earnings by the end of the decade, the highest it has ever been.
From 2030, the State Pension will still have three parts – it will rise each year by inflation, or 2.5%, whichever is higher, with additional increases when needed to keep its value relative to average earnings. Meanwhile the change will save £15 billion by the end of the decade, helping to pay for the care system.
In short, pensions will keep their value, in return for the peace of mind of knowing that care won't wipe out a lifetime's savings.
The Prime Minister has also made a commitment to care workers because this service wont work without them. They deserve to be recognised, valued and paid fairly. There are 1.5 million across England, doing vital work for low pay with few chances to progress. That's why the government is acting now, before the National Care Service is established.
We'll set up an Adult Social Care Negotiating Body and introduce Fair Pay Agreements, with £500 million committed for the first one, launching in 2028. A new Workforce Action Plan will improve career progression and conditions and a national collective pension scheme will help care workers save for retirement. The government has also provided £4.6 billion of extra funding for adult social care by 2028-29, compared with 2025-26.
This also presents an opportunity for young people in Blackpool – training, work experience and guaranteed interviews, with expanded work academy programmes to help thousands of people start rewarding careers in care. Caring is a job that matters and it can be a meaningful vocation, when the conditions and reward is right.
This is the kind of change that previous governments have talked about for decades and then walked away from, because it's not an easy thing to do. This Prime Minister has chosen to face it head on. He's being honest about the cost and about the fact that it will take time to do properly.
In the mean time I will keep working with pensioners in my constituency to make sure they get the support they need as much as possible now. On Friday 23 October, between 9am and 3pm, I’m hosting my Older Persons’ Fair at the Winter Gardens, where services offering advice, support and information will come together with entertainment and activities for older people. It promises to be a great day and I’d love to see you there. You can register to attend here.
