# Create a national care service

> “We will fix it. We will create a national care service.”
>
> — Andy Burnham, Prime Minister, Labour Party; Prime Minister's Questions, 14 October 2026

- **Status:** Promised
- **Status ladder:** Promised → In plan → Legislated → Funded → Delivering → Delivered
- **Policy area:** [Social protection](https://ledgergov.uk/promises/area/social-protection)
- **Speaker:** [Andy Burnham](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/andy-burnham), Prime Minister
- **Party:** [Labour Party](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/labour)
- **Made on:** 14 October 2026
- **Where:** Prime Minister's Questions
- **Cost a year:** No costing published
- **Who it affects:** People who need social care, and their families
- **When:** Not stated
- **Paid for by:** Not stated when it was announced
- **Quote source:** https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-10-14/debates/0BFDA327-FA8B-44F9-85C3-02A2F2712280/Engagements (checked word for word on 16 October 2026; Open Parliament Licence v3.0)
- **Last updated:** 16 October 2026
- **Card:** https://ledgergov.uk/promise/uk-national-care-service-2026

## Where it stands

Answering a question on social care, the Prime Minister said co-operative principles will be at the heart of the new national care service. The day before, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Pat McFadden, told the Commons that savings from adjusting the triple lock will make a significant contribution to "a rising, more sustainable state pension alongside free personal care through a new national care service", and that Baroness Louise Casey will set out the pace and scale of its roll-out in a final report next summer. Neither gave a date or a cost for the service. The card moves when that report or a plan for the service is published.

## Timeline

- 14 October 2026, Promised: The Prime Minister tells the Commons the government will create a national care service

## About the cost

Neither the Prime Minister nor the Work and Pensions Secretary gave a cost in the cited debates.

## Sources

- [Hansard, House of Commons, 14 Oct 2026: Engagements (Prime Minister's Questions)](https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-10-14/debates/0BFDA327-FA8B-44F9-85C3-02A2F2712280/Engagements)
- [Hansard, House of Commons, 13 Oct 2026: Pensions Triple Lock (Work and Pensions Secretary's statement)](https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-10-13/debates/72F06588-BF33-4C21-8542-EE9E1293D7C9/PensionsTripleLock)

## Checks

- Checked automatically by AI Journalist, not yet verified by an editor.
- Checked by AI Journalist (automated) on 16 October 2026.

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