Prime Minister To Unveil Social Care Funding Reform

The prime minister is expected to announce a rise in national insurance payments to fund social care, despite this being a breach of the 2019 Tory manifesto, and a Dilnot-style cap on individual care costs, according to national media reports.

The Telegraph reports the government could hike national insurance by between one and 1.25 per cent, paid by employers and employees, to apply a cap of between £60,000 and £80,000.

The cap will set the amount an individual can spend on care costs during their lifetime before the state steps into pay.

The measure is aimed at reducing the amount of people who are forced to sell their homes to cover their care costs.

In its 2019 manifesto, the Conservatives promised that people would not have to sell their homes to fund later life care.

“My job is to protect you or your parents or grandparents from the fear of having to sell your home to pay for the costs of care,” Boris Johnson said in July 2019.

“We will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve,” he added.

Responding to today’s news Social Care Institute for Excellence Chief Executive Kathryn Smith, says:

“There’s no escaping the fact that current funding levels have led to the growing social care crisis, both for people who draw on services and the workforce. We call on the Government to publish its full proposals for the future of adult social care.

“The promise to fix social care must be fulfilled so that the reforms the sector badly needs are prioritised and addressed. A sustained increase in funding is needed now to stabilise the care system, particularly with the impact of Covid-19. But simply stabilising the system will not be enough to meet the growing the demand for social care or to support better care.

“Improvements will only come from a long-term strategy. We should be thinking about how to scale up the innovation we’re seeing in some places, and how to develop a passionate workforce with the right skills and flexibility. We hear again and again from people who draw on services about the importance of person-centred care; the sort of care and support we would want for our own loved ones. This outcome must be key to any plans for care reform”.