Labour leader Keir Starmer has been urged not to take for charities for granted if he forms the next government.

The warning from the learning disability charity came after Starmer called for the creation of a “society of service” in a major speech on the third sector.

Steve Veevers, chief executive of Hft, said: “It’s refreshing to hear that, should they be elected, the Labour party want to create genuine partnerships with the third sector in order to address their key policy priorities.”

Veevers said the Labour leader was right to outline how the third sector had a “comprehensive understanding of society’s challenges and can propose the best solutions, due to its delivery of vital services” but warned it was “imperative” that charities were not “taken for granted” and “properly remunerated for the service we deliver”.

“For far too long, our sector, namely the adult social care sector, has had to foot the bill for the underfunding of the invaluable support it provides,” Veevers said. “This was clearly illustrated in our Sector Pulse Check research, published just last week in partnership with Care England, in which 79% of adult social care providers reported that local authority fees did not cover the costs associated with the increased National Living Wage in 2023.

“It is simply not realistic or sustainable to expect the third sector to continue to make up the difference when, thanks to a lack of central government funding, local government are not able to pay the true cost of care.

“We are ready and waiting to work with whomever forms the next government to address some of our key societal challenges. At the top of that list is securing a long-term funding settlement for adult social care so providers can deliver securely and sustainably into the future.”

In his speech Starmer called for a “renewed social contract”, stating: “Now we need a new vision for a new era. A renewed social contract. A new focus on those who build the bonds that connect us, the communities that nurture us and the local institutions that support us.”

The Labour leader pledged to work with the third sector to “create a society of service for a decade of national renewal”.