ADULT social care is rarely thought about and discussed until it is needed. Yet every one of us, at any age, might have to rely on care, or find ourselves caring for someone we love. When that moment comes, it is not unreasonable to expect a system that provides dignity and support.

Fixing social care is a huge and important task, yet, for decades, reform has been kicked down the road. Politically, it has been considered too risky, too difficult and too expensive. The result has been a system that is letting down the people who depend on it, and those who dedicate so much to care for them.

People are already paying the price for the failure to reform social care. It can be seen in rising pressure on council budgets, in the strain placed on our NHS, in families forced to spend their savings to meet care costs, and in people having to reduce their working hours or leave employment entirely to care for a loved one. Paid and unpaid carers alike are carrying enormous responsibilities, often with not enough support and little recognition.

We are spending vast amounts of money dealing with the consequences of a system that does not work well. At the same time, our population is ageing, and the need for care is growing. Here in Cornwall, where we have an older demographic, demand for care is particularly high.

So now we must decide: do we continue pouring money into an unfair and broken system or do we build something better?

To start this journey, our new Prime Minister is looking at how we build a National Care Service, improve pay and training for care workers, and strengthen integration with the NHS. Baroness Louise Casey's Independent Commission on Adult Social Care has been brought forward by a year to help develop a long-term plan with cross-party backing, while the current Big Conversation on Care is giving people the chance to add their opinion. To feed in use this link - caseycommission.co.uk/bigconversation

I really welcome Andy Burnham's willingness to work across party lines on this issue. Social care is too important for political point-scoring, and we must be prepared to tackle the problems so often ignored.

Alongside the 1.46-million adult social care workers in England, around 4.7-million unpaid carers are looking after partners, parents, children and friends. That is why it is so important that we are publishing a cross-government Action Plan which sets out how we recognise and support unpaid carers better. This sits alongside the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care staff backed by £500-million, and the career progression and development we’re offering through the Care Workforce Pathway.

Yes, this reform will be difficult, and there will inevitably be hard choices to make. But if we can get this right, we will improve adult social care for everyone, and I am really glad our Prime Minister is prepared to put everything he’s got behind this reform.