Burnham to Scrap Pension Triple Lock from 2030 to Fund National Care Service

Andy Burnham has used his first Labour Party conference speech as prime minister to announce that the existing state pension triple lock will be brought to an end from 2030, with the resulting savings channelled into a new national care service. The pledge formed the centrepiece of a wide-ranging address in Liverpool in which the prime minister set out what he described as a plan to transform Britain.

Speaking in front of a packed conference hall and watched by family and friends, Burnham spoke for over an hour. At several points he paused and appeared to be holding back tears as he mentioned his father, Roy, who died earlier this month. He arrived on stage to "All Together Now" by Liverpool band The Farm, and used the song's title as a recurring theme, telling delegates he wanted to "draw a line on a decade of division" and to stop "doomscrolling on posts running Britain down".

The prime minister framed his agenda around what he called "working-class aspiration", recalling his own family's background and saying his government wanted to unlock similar opportunities for others. His time at the party's conference had been widely expected to produce more detail on his vision for the country's future, and the speech delivered several concrete proposals — though a number were presented as pledges for the next Labour manifesto rather than immediate action.

Central to that vision is a plan for free-at-the-point-of-use social care in England, which is being developed so it can be put before voters at the next general election in 2029. Burnham insisted the policy would be "fully funded and not through borrowing". He drew on personal experience to make his case, recounting how his grandmother Kitty's engagement ring had been "ripped from her finger and stolen in a care home". He argued that a national care service would be a landmark reform "as significant as the creation of the NHS itself and utterly essential to securing its future".

After days of pressure over how the reforms would be paid for, the prime minister pointed to changes to the pension triple lock as the source of "significant savings". Under his plans, the state pension would continue to rise every year by at least inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher, but the automatic annual link with average earnings would be removed from 2030.

The triple lock was introduced by the coalition government in 2010 to prevent the value of the state pension from being overtaken by the rising cost of living or by the incomes of working people. At present it guarantees that pension rates increase each April by whichever is highest: inflation, earnings growth, or 2.5%. Burnham said the mechanism would remain untouched until 2030, at which point he would like to "adjust it".

He told conference: "The state pension will continue to rise every year at least by prices or 2.5%. And it will hold its value relative to earnings over time so that pensioners will always share in the rising prosperity of the nation. But this change will generate significant savings which we will use to build up our national care service." He added that many people may not realise that older people with nothing more than the state pension, or only slightly more, can currently find themselves paying care charges out of that small income — something he said would no longer happen under his plan.

Officials have suggested the change could save around £15bn a year by 2040. Jonathan Cribb, deputy director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, offered a more cautious assessment, noting that savings "are likely to be relatively small in the first few years, but rise substantially over time". He also warned: "We should not expect this reform to save enough that it could fund universal social care in the next parliament."

The announcement drew immediate criticism from across the political spectrum. Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, told the BBC she believed the government should have "pulled another lever", such as a wealth tax, rather than altering the triple lock. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said "more tax rises are inevitable" under Labour's plan, while Reform UK's Nigel Farage accused the prime minister of "launching an offensive against our elderly". Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said families "cannot wait until after another election and it can't be funded from the pockets of our poorest pensioners".

Burnham acknowledged in advance that the reform could carry a cost, accepting he may "pay a political price" but arguing that "someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip the plaster off".

Beyond pensions and social care, the prime minister set out plans to change the way key public services are owned and run. He said he wanted to repeal "Margaret Thatcher's ideological ban on public ownership of water companies", with legislation to be put before Parliament. According to Burnham, the changes would "start a 10-year journey to a very different water system", including new powers for mayors to hold companies to account. He also said he wanted to pave the way for greater public control over housing and energy services, and raised the prospect of reforming the UK's electoral system.

On housing, Burnham said it would be made easier for councils to acquire private rented homes in poor condition where landlords refuse to act after receiving warnings. He said the government would change the law "if necessary" to make this possible. He also told delegates that "Brexit has done more harm than good", though the source account of his remarks ends at that point.

The speech, delivered after days of speculation about the funding of his social care ambitions, sought to answer the central question that had trailed his conference appearance. By tying the future of the triple lock to the creation of a national care service, Burnham has staked his premiership on a trade-off between two groups of older voters — those who rely on the pension and those who need care — while leaving the current formula in place until the end of the decade. Whether that bargain proves politically sustainable will now depend on the detailed costing of the care plan and on how voters respond when the proposals are formally put to them in 2029.