National Care Service

Debate between Alison McGovern and Nadia Whittome

Thursday 15th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the hon. Lady not just for her question, but for seeking the debate in Westminster Hall. I apologise to her for not replying to it myself, but there is a sort of time clash going on. My very good friend, the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Frith), will respond to her.

The argument I was making in my statement was that unless we are prepared to grapple with the issue of social care properly, we will pay for the cost of failure, most especially in what we are seeing in the NHS. I feel sure that this is the right thing to do for the country financially, as well as in terms of ensuring that people can live very good lives into old age.

[Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) (Lab)]

I very much welcome the Minister’s statement, and I am glad that the Prime Minister has already committed to a national care service that is free at the point of use—a vital principle that mirrors our NHS. Does the Minister agree that one of the key problems in our current system is our reliance on private providers? Will she explore how we can make the new national care service publicly run, with people who receive care, care workers and unpaid carers co-producing that system?

[Alison McGovern]

The system we have is not working. It is far too fragmented, and I have a lot of concerns about the situation faced by the workforce. Hon. Members will have noticed, yesterday, that the Prime Minister responded to a question regarding the role of co-ops in the future of social care. I am interested in all ideas that Members have on how we get the best possible mix of organisations involved in the national care system.