Five headaches Andy Burnham will have to deal with as PM

ByBen ChuPolicy and Analysis correspondent, BBC VerifyPublished17 July 2026When Andy Burnham enters No 10 Downing Street, he will inherit some formidable and complex problems that successive prime ministers and governments have attempted to address - mostly without success.

BBC Verify has looked at five big policy challenges Burnham will face and the approaches he might take to address them.

The cost of sickness and disability benefits for people of working age has grown rapidly since the Covid pandemic and now stands at around £58bn a year, external.

The biggest driver of the increase is the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payments (Pip) - a working age benefit designed to support people with disabilities that increase their living costs.

The number of people claiming Pip is forecast to rise from four million today, to five million by 2030, external.

The share of people who are younger and claiming Pip for mental health problems or neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD is also rising fast.

The previous Conservative government attempted to reform the working age disability welfare system but the cost continued to rise during their time in office, external.

Last year, Sir Keir Starmer's government tried to reduce the Pip bill by £5bn a year by 2030 by tightening eligibility - but had to do a U-turn after a revolt by Labour MPs.

A recent interim report by the disability minister, Sir Stephen Timms, external, co-produced with disability groups, accepts that Pip is "not fit for purpose".

The final Timms report is expected to propose reforms to the system later this year, which Burnham could adopt.

There has been speculation, external this could involve offering young people with mental health problems therapy or other support rather than cash.

But there remains the risk of backlash from disability groups and potentially Labour MPs if the reforms are considered unfair.