Andy Burnham’s track record on disability issues

With the growing possibility of Andy Burnham becoming the country’s next prime minister, we at The Disability Policy Centre wanted to assess his record on disability issues.

Burnham of course served as Mayor of Manchester between 2017 up to this year and in that time enacted a number of policies impacting the lives of disabled people.

On ambition and vision, he recently endorsed the commitment for inclusive leisure facilities for disabled people in Greater Manchester. This was as a part of his wider pledge to put disabled people at the heart of policy development as part of the Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Panel.

Greater Manchester’s 10 Year Strategy also included 10 new therapeutic children’s homes including for young people with complex needs as well as a stronger role for charities and social enterprises in delivering care.

In terms of hard policy changes, disabled people in Greater Manchester now have access to free bus travel, an issue we campaigned for, as well as centring disabled people in the planning process.

Looking at his voting record as an MP between 2001 to 2017, he consistently voted for an increase in benefits for people who couldn’t work due to illness or disability and generally against cuts to overall welfare spending.

And of course, as Health Secretary between 2009 and 2010 he proposed a National Care Service to provide state-funded care for older people.

So what does this amount to?

His voting record points to a defensive of the protections provided by the welfare state to disabled people in the immediate wake of austerity. This was more or less the orthodoxy for Labour politicians at the time but has of course changed dramatically since 2017. Indeed, recently he made a point of telling the right-of-centre press that he was “not squeamish” about “reducing the welfare bill”.

As Mayor, there seems to be no doubting a commitment to ensure the voices of disabled people are heard in the development of policies which impact their lives. But the translation of this into real-life changes which have helped disabled people is less clear beyond some changes to public transport.

More recently, he’s proactively commented on social care - an issue he’s been outspoken about throughout his political career. In an interview with The Guardian he discussed bringing forward The Casey Review to be published this year, focusing on reforms which can be implemented quickly.

From this evidence, then, Burnham appears to be committed to tackling the social care crisis and, with a strong track record as Mayor, hopefully equally robust on improving transport.

Quite understandably, gaps remain. We will, for example, be interested to see what more he says on welfare spending including personal independence payments, beyond discussing them for their political subtext and more for pragmatic reforms to help disabled people. Similarly, we’re keen to know more about his views on work and disability, specifically which ideas he might take forward from The Mayfield Review and what successful government schemes he might get behind (including Access to Work).

More generally, on what role he thinks disabled people play in modern British society. A narrative reset here would be welcome following what feels like an excessive focus on disabled people as economic units either contributing or otherwise to economic growth, instead of people with a right to live as fully as anyone else.  

Additionally, we are buoyed by the calls for policies which can be implemented immediately. We are conscious that this Labour government has already served half its time in office, so impact is key.

In order to bring the sector with them, we would welcome clearer messaging on policy direction. Less selective, anonymous briefings to strategically charm different corners of the media, and more crisp, clear commitments to change which can be understood and engaged with and shaped by those in the sector.

So overall, there is much to be positive about and, naturally, a lot of questions. But we remain optimistic that, should Burnham become the leader of this country, he can use the time he has in office to meaningfully help disabled people and rebuild trust with a sector which may have at times felt alienated.