Tories ditch plan to cap care home fees by 2020

THE Tories’ pledge to introduce a cap on social care costs by 2020 has been officially abandoned.

David Cameron promised to bring in an upper limit of about £75,000 on the amount people must pay towards their own care.

But a senior Government source has said the cap will not be introduced until well into the next decade at the earliest.

This means the scandal of enormous care bills eating away at the hard-earned inheritance people were hoping to leave to their children will continue.

Ministers are also considering radical plans to encourage all workers to set aside a proportion of their wages each month to pay for their own future social care needs.

The scheme – similar to auto-enrolment for pensions – would effectively bring in an expectation that everyone should build up a personal care fund.

The plan is being considered as part of a consultation document on the future of social care, which had been expected by the end of the year. But it is understood the publication of the green paper has been delayed until next summer.

In the long term, Whitehall wants younger and middle-aged people to accept that they will have to contribute towards their social care, rather than expecting the state to pay via taxation.

But in the short term, officials must deal with a demographic crisis, with the population of over-80s set to double in 20 years.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is understood to be looking at ways of asking these older people to pay more towards their care out of their accumulated wealth. He is believed to think that, in the spirit of fairness, retirees should pay more, rather than asking younger people who cannot afford to buy a home to dig into their pockets.

Details of the Government’s new social care policy come after a minister suggested that people should start to look after their own relatives rather than relying on the state.

Dr Phillip Lee, a justice minister and GP, told the Tory conference last week that British families were guilty of shirking their duty by ‘outsourcing’ the care of elderly relatives. He said the UK had become far too ‘selfish’.

At present people have to pay the full cost of their social care until they reach their last £23,500. The cost of their care is taken off the value of their home after they die, denying thousands of children their inheritance. The idea of a cap came in a report by economist Andrew Dilnot in 2011, and four years later Mr Cameron pledged to implement it in his 2015 election manifesto. The cap of £75,000 was due to start last year – but the Government announced there was not enough money, and delayed it until 2020.

Social care dominated this year’s general election campaign, where it contributed to the loss of Theresa May’s majority. When her manifesto was launched, the Prime Minister originally said Mr Cameron’s pledge to introduce a cap would never be implemented.

The policy sparked such a backlash that she was forced to reinstate the cap.

But a Government source said it was now clear that the cap would not be introduced before 2020 – a revelation which will spark dismay among families struggling with costs that can reach six figures.

Baroness Altmann, a former pensions minister, said she was ‘ shocked’ at the delay to the implementation of the cap.

‘Delaying the cap again just seems to be unjust,’ she said. ‘This is a real crisis. The Government has got to take some action to protect families from the unfairness of the care lottery.’

A Government source suggested the introduction of a care cap could be kept on track only if Labour agreed to cross-party talks – something it has refused to do.

‘Unfairness of the care lottery’