Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Labour to announce it would reverse austerity cuts to adult social care

Labour to announce it would reverse austerity cuts to adult social care

Party expected to offer free help with washing, dressing and meals for people over 65

A Labour government would launch a multibillion-pound plan to reverse austerity cuts to care services and fix England’s growing social care crisis, shadow ministers are expected to announce next week.

A £7bn-a-year programme of free personal care for people over 65 who need help with washing, dressing and eating will be at the heart of the strategy, which is likely to be unveiled by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, on Monday.

The plan would pump an additional £8bn into local authority adult social care departments over the next few years to increase the number of care packages, expand specialist dementia services, and invest in higher pay and extra training for care staff.

Labour would introduce a lifetime cap limiting the amount individuals pay for residential care before state support kicks in. It does not specify a figure but promises it will be less than the £72,000 cap set in the 2014 Care Act, which was never implemented.

“The adult care system is so mired in crisis that we have to do something about it,” a Labour source said. “We have to have a system that is fair across the generations and pools the financial risks.”

The plan would be paid for through general taxation, in a clear rejection of the idea, favoured on some on the right, that fair and comprehensive adult social care services can be paid for through private insurance.

Free personal care was introduced for over-65s in Scotland in 2002 to pay for help with daily tasks such as bathing, dressing, personal hygiene, going to the toilet, and meal preparation. Numbers receiving free care doubled, but the cost was offset by reductions in costly hospital admissions.

Funding will be distributed to councils according to levels of local need, and national standards of eligibility will be set to attempt to remove the postcode lottery by which individuals with similar needs receive differing levels of care depending on where they live.

Adult social care has climbed up the domestic political agenda in recent months, amid signs of growing political consensus that the system is in crisis. An estimated 1.4 million people who need care are denied it as a result of cuts, means-testing and rationing, while many others receive only basic “clean and feed” levels of care.

Providing care for the growing number of older people – by 2040 a quarter of the UK population will be over 65 – as well as a big increase in the number of disabled people of working age has put huge strain on councils whose finances have been squeezed by nine years of cuts.

Since 2010, £7.7bn has been cut from adult social care budgets in England. Last month the Age UK charity described the care system as “working at full pelt, stretched to its limit and still failing people left, right and centre”. There are fears that in some areas of England private social care providers dependent on council funding could collapse.

It became a key issue for the Tory leadership contenders over the summer, and one of Boris Johnson’s first promises after becoming prime minister was to “fix the crisis in social care”, although plans to publish funding options have reportedly been put back until at least after Christmas.

The sheer expense of reforming social care funding has meant that proposals have been vulnerable in recent years to being denigrated as a “death tax” or a “dementia tax”, meaning any plans for public investment are seen as electorally high-risk.

However, a high-powered all-party House of Lords report in July, chaired by the Tory Lord Forsyth, which anticipated Labour’s policy by calling for billions to be invested in social care, suggests there may be scope for political consensus on the issue.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
EU Proposes Phasing Out Russian Oil and Gas by End of 2027 to End Energy Dependence
More Than 150,000 Followers for a Fictional Character: The New Influencers Are AI Creations
EU Prepares for War
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
×