WHEN WILL THEY SHOW THEY CARE?
For years the Mail has fought to end scandal of crippling care costs. Again and again, ministers promised action. Yesterday, disgracefully, they dodged it once more. So...
BORIS Johnson faced a massive backlash last night after devoting just nine words to social care in the Queen’s Speech.
Measures to reform long-standing funding issues were absent from the list of 30 Bills announced in Parliament yesterday.
Despite lengthy negotiations, No10 and the Treasury have been unable to reach agreement on a strategy to limit the amounts pensioners have to pay toward their own care.
It meant the Queen was unable to say any more than: ‘Proposals on social care reform will be brought forward.’
The glaring omission of any detail comes despite figures revealing that 10,000 people have been financially crippled while waiting for Mr Johnson to fix the crisis. Charities, experts and MPs condemned yet another delay in the introduction of a credible plan.
Tory MP Damian Green, who worked on social care reform as Theresa May’s deputy, said: ‘I am absolutely insistent that this needs to be the year for action and decision rather than kicking the can down the road any further.’
Mr Johnson promised imminent reform when he became Prime Minister in July 2019. Standing outside No10, he
January 2013 – David Cameron: ‘We’ll also set out big new steps on some of the hardest and most important long-term issues that will shape the future for generations to come... On social care, capping the potentially huge costs of longterm care faced by many families today.’
September 1997 – Tony Blair: ‘I don’t want [our children] brought up in a country where the only way pensioners can get long-term care is by selling their home.’
‘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. And so I am announcing now – that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared.’
said: ‘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.
‘And so I am announcing now – on the steps of Downing Street – that 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.’
But nothing has been forthcoming, aside from a promise that plans would brought forward by the end of 2021.
Under England’s present broken care system, pensioners have to pay the full cost of their care down to their last £23,250.
This includes the value of their property, meaning thousands of parents are unable to pass on the family home to their children.
An average of 15 people a day see their savings wiped out after being landed with sky-high bills for their care, an analysis by Age UK found.
The charity estimated that in the 657 days since Mr Johnson became Prime Minister, some 10,000 people have lost almost all the money they have saved during their life.
Age UK last night said his delay in implementing a plan has had far-reaching effects.
Charity director Caroline Abrahams said: ‘It’s patently unfair that if you need a lot of care for a long time the gigantic cost could take away all you’ve worked hard for throughout your life.
‘Yet this is the reality for 15 people every day, who face complete ruin, just because they lost the lottery over who develops expensive care needs in later life, and who never requires any care support at all.
‘It’s shocking that 10,000 people have been left penniless by their care bills since the Prime Minister promised to “fix social care”.
‘ Nothing could demonstrate more clearly why it’s time for the Government to take action, so no one has to bear such a huge financial risk alone ever again, leaving them essentially to be thrown to the wolves because of factors that were totally beyond their control.’
She added: ‘As things are at the moment it’s as though we punish people who have assets and who need long-term care when we should be offering them our full support.
‘It’s bad enough trying to come to terms with growing incapacity and physical and mental decline, without also worrying sick that you could run out of money and be left penniless, at one of the most challenging times in your life.’
A briefing note from No 10, accompanying the Queen’s Speech, said the Government would engage with care staff about how best to help the 1.5million-strong workforce and ensure reform was ‘informed by diverse perspectives’.
The document noted that costs are unpredictable, can be very high and that ‘not all the risk is shared across society’.
Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents independent care providers, said the Queen’s Speech was a missed opportunity.
‘Without the much-needed, not to mention heralded, reform it is questionable as to how much longer the sector can be expected to limp on,’ he said.
‘A sector that supports and employs vast swathes of the population cannot be ignored.’
Liz Kendall, Labour’s social care spokesman, said: ‘Older people who helped make this country what it is, and who are now seeing their life savings wiped out to pay for care, deserve more than a paltry nine words in the Queen’s Speech. Mr Johnson needs to wake up to the fact we cannot build a better country as we emerge from this awful pandemic without a decent system of social care.
‘After the horror of what happened in care homes during Covid19 this should have been the Prime Minister’s top priority, not once again kicked into the long grass. Our elderly people deserve better.’
Sir Andrew Dilnot, the architect of a decade-old plan for a lifetime cap on the amount individuals have to pay, said he would have liked to have seen details in the
April 2015 – Conservative manifesto: ‘We will guarantee that you will not have to sell your home to fund your residential social care.’
April 2017 – Theresa May: ‘We need to ensure we have got that long-term solution for a sustainable future for social care.’
And yesterday, in just nine words, kicked into long grass AGAIN: ‘Proposals on social care reform will be brought forward.’
Queen’s Speech but the emergence of a clear timetable was ‘encouraging’.
‘Now it’s up to the Government to bring up a set of proposals that will bring in a social care system we can be proud of,’ he added.
Gavin Terry, head of policy at the Alzheimer’s Society, said the Government needed a concrete plan for the 850,000 people with dementia in the UK.’
A spokesman for No 10 said: ‘Throughout the pandemic we have sought to protect the elderly and the most vulnerable and this will remain our priority as we look to end the care lottery and make sure people receive high-quality, joined-up care. We are committed to bringing forward a long-term plan to reform the social care system and we will set out proposals later this year.’
FOLLOWING his phenomenal electoral triumphs last week, Boris Johnson bestrides the political landscape like a colossus.
Not since Tony Blair’s peak, before his illegal invasion of Iraq two decades ago, has a prime minister been so commanding.
Boasting a huge working majority, Mr Johnson is well-placed to deliver his bold vision of post-Brexit, post-Covid Britain.
But while promising fireworks, yesterday’s Queen’s Speech risked turning into a damp squib – and not just because anti-virus measures stripped the occasion of pomp.
True, there were almost 30 Bills, plus plans, white papers and reviews.
With customary rhetorical brio, Boris promised the measures would release the ‘suppressed fizz’ of pandemic-bludgeoned Britain ‘like a pressurised keg of beer’.
And yes, there was lots to like for the PM’s new converts in the long-neglected Red Wall. Major legislation promises to boost economic regeneration, create businesses and jobs, increase home ownership, fuel a skills revolution and crack crime.
But before the next election, voters in the North and Midlands will demand visible proof that ‘levelling up’ is not just a fatuous slogan to dupe them into voting Tory.
But elsewhere, there are troubling signs Mr Johnson is unwilling to jeopardise his copious reserves of political capital.
It is inexcusable that a pitiful nine words were devoted to social care for the elderly.
On his first day in No10, Boris said he had a blueprint to tackle this unfair, ramshackle, cash-starved system.
Since then, 10,000 pensioners have lost their homes and life savings to cover care costs. Mr Johnson must find the compassion – and cash – to right this injustice.
Equally worrying, nothing protects Northern Ireland veterans from witchhunts, nor safeguards victims of the cladding scandal from ruin.
And while rewarding the Red Wall, Boris must be careful not to disregard the Tory shires – especially if they face bearing the brunt of tax hikes to pay for the pandemic.
Of course, the Covid fallout will dominate the Government’s agenda this year.
Boris must get the economy back on track, tackle NHS backlogs and ensure children catch up on schooling. But it would be a tragedy if he let this unrivalled opportunity to reshape the country slip from his grasp.