Prime Minister Andy Burnham has warned that "broken social care will in the end break the NHS", confirming he will develop a plan for a new national care service to put before the public at the next general election.

Speaking to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg ahead of his keynote address to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr Burnham said he would not look in the other direction on care reform.

The prime minister is preparing to deliver his inaugural conference address as party leader on Tuesday, where he will promise "less drift and more direction" for the country under the banner of "Hope again". He is expected to tell delegates that "hope comes from honesty and from saying the things politicians usually avoid".

Social care funding sits at the centre of the government's plans. Mr Burnham has previously made clear his intention to spend his remaining political capital on fixing the sector, indicating over the weekend that he is ready to make tough choices — including raising taxes — to ensure structural reform is properly financed.

Central to the debate is how those changes will be paid for. Ministers have so far refused to confirm whether Labour's commitment to the pensions triple lock will be included in the party's next manifesto. Under the current mechanism, the state pension rises each year by whichever is highest among inflation, average earnings growth, or 2.5 per cent.

That refusal has fuelled reports that the government could ditch or alter the triple lock guarantee, shifting to a less generous system to help fund free social care for adults in England.

Alongside social care, the prime minister will introduce measures covering youth unemployment and public control over utility companies. Ministers have also briefed The Independent that Mr Burnham is planning a major rethink on Brexit following what they described as a decade of "drift and division".

In extracts from his upcoming address, Mr Burnham will tell the conference: "We can’t carry on as we are. Politics-as-usual has taken Britain backwards. More of the same isn’t good enough and isn’t going to get us where we need to be." He is also expected to take aim at the centralisation of power by "vested interests" and call for a departure from the "flawed thinking of the last 40 years".

This is familiar territory for Mr Burnham, who championed social care reform when serving as health secretary in Gordon Brown’s administration. Those earlier proposals, which relied on a levy on estates, were attacked by opponents as a "death tax" and were subsequently shelved after Labour lost the 2010 general election. Speaking at the start of the conference on Sunday, Mr Burnham accused previous political leaders of "cowardice" for failing to grasp the issue.

The Conservatives have strongly rejected the prime minister's approach. Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake argued that hope was "not a strategy", calling on Mr Burnham to face up to the impact of the government's economic decisions.

Mr Hollinrake said: "If Andy Burnham wants to be honest with the British people, he must admit that Labour’s tax rises have crushed businesses, killed jobs and hammered family finances — all so Labour can give more handouts to benefits street. Andy Burnham has the chance to show whether he’s got the backbone to bring the welfare bill down and stand up to his welfare obsessed MPs. Failure to do so will prove he’s just a people pleaser who can’t take decisions in the national interest, and that Labour really are the welfare party."

What we do not know yet are the precise mechanics of the funding model, or whether ministers will formally commit to reforming the triple lock when the full details are presented to delegates.

The prime minister will address the conference floor on Tuesday, when we should get a much clearer picture of the government's timetable and funding strategy. I'll be following this one closely — check back for updates.