Backlash as social care shake-up is branded a dementia tax

THE Conservatives faced a mounting backlash last night after their plans for social care were branded a ‘dementia tax’.

The party’s manifesto unveiled proposals to ensure that no one has to sell their home to pay for care, and a pledge to protect the final £100,000 of pensioners’ assets.

But the blueprint also revealed that rising property values were now seen as a way of funding social care.

It said bluntly that the elderly should not expect current and future taxpayers to pay for their care adding: ‘Many older people have built considerable property assets due to rising property prices.’

In addition, thousands of people who rely on home helps will be asked for the first time to contribute towards the cost of their care.

Jeremy Corbyn described the rise as a ‘tax on dementia’, saying it was unfair that cancer sufferers got free care on the NHS while those with long-term conditions such as dementia face huge bills.

Sir Andrew Dilnot, the economist who carried out a landmark review into social care, said the rules would leave pensioners ‘helpless’ in the face of sky-high costs.

And some experts said the fact that the children of care recipients would end up having to fund the cost of care out of the value of the family home meant the policy was an effective inheritance tax increase.

But Theresa May insisted yesterday that her care plans will provide ‘fairness across the generations’.

Under the Tory blueprint, the pledge to introduce a £72,000 cap on care costs – put forward by Sir Andrew – is scrapped. Instead, the Government will offer protection from the cost of social care for people with assets of £100,000 or less, a sharp increase on the current £23,250 threshold.

However, for the first time the value of an elderly person’s property will be included in the means test for care in their own home, meaning more people will be liable to contribute to the cost of being looked after.

At present the value of the property is only taken into account when the elderly person moves into a care home.

Sir Andrew said the proposals would leave the elderly with ‘no control’ over their care costs.

He told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘People will be left helpless knowing that what will happen is, if they’re unlucky enough to suffer the need for care costs, they’ll be entirely on their own until they’re down to the last £100,000, all of their wealth including their house.

‘If the Tories get into power, we’re going to end up with a world where we have a sort of inheritance tax that is social care specific, so if you’re unlucky enough to get dementia, all of your accumulated wealth will be taken away.’

labour leader Mr Corbyn said: ‘It’s actually a tax on dementia, it’s a tax on people that have got extreme needs and I think we as a society should accept the principle of the National Health Service – that we want to make sure we actually care for everybody.’

Former pensions minister Steve Webb, now director of policy at insurer Royal london, said the average homeowner in England would lose almost 60 per cent of the value of their home before reaching the £100,000 limit. Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the Right-wing Bow Group, said: ‘ These proposals will mean that the majority of property-owning citizens could be transferring the bulk of their assets to the Government upon death for care they have already paid a lifetime of taxes to receive.

‘It is a tax on death and on inheritance. If enacted, it is likely to represent the biggest stealth tax in history.’

‘People will be left helpless’