Some of the most important jobs in our society are theones we don't always see. During the pandemic we learned who the essentialworkers were, and usually it wasn’t the best paid or the most appreciated. Socialcare is an example of this. It's where most of your council tax goes, but mostof the time you won't see it until you or someone you love needs it.

Despite the hard work of many brilliant and committedpeople working in social care, too many patients are stuck in hospital for lackof a suitable care package which would allow them to go home. Fundamentally oursystem is failing them at their most vulnerable.

Last month the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham committedto fixing social care in this country. This was exciting for me to hear. I haveprobably spoken more on this subject than anything else in my entire politicalcareer – professionally, as a councillor and Cabinet Member for adult socialcare, and now as MP for Calder Valley.

The way we organise and provide social care sayseverything about the kind of society we want to be. Most of us will, at somepoint in our lives, need care for ourselves or a loved one. There are also aninvisible army of unpaid carers propping up the whole teetering system.

One of the biggest challenges is that care is frequentlyshaped by the local services that happen to be available, rather than what isgenuinely best for the person. Our system must be reimagined and rebuilt fromthe ground up, tailoring support around the needs of individuals and helpingthem to live fulfilling lives in a national care service that works seamlesslywith healthcare.

Just as importantly, we must do more to recognise andreward the skills needed to be a good care worker. When I was responsible forsocial care at Calderdale Council I brought in the real living wage for carers.The main aim was to recognise that care work is skilled work and avoid losingamazing people to better paid careers. Investing in our care workforce isessential if we are to build a sustainable system for the future.

We simply cannotcontinue as we are – doing nothing has a cost too, to public finances and inhuman terms to those who are being let down. The Prime Minister’s commitment tocollaboratively solving this problem for the long term has already beenaccompanied by action, including bringing forward a review by Baroness LouiseCasey to report next summer. I'm ready to work with the Prime Minister todeliver it.