Task force to look at a tax on the over-40s to fund social care

MINISTERS are studying plans to make all over-40s pay towards the cost of social care, as they search for a long-term solution to the sector’s funding crisis.

Boris Johnson has set up a health and social care task force to consider the problem, among others, having promised a year ago to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all”.

One idea under discussion is a modified version of a system already used in Japan, in which everyone starts to contribute when they reach 40, paying more in tax or national insurance, or being forced to insure themselves against future care costs.

The approach is favoured by Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, according to one report, though a source close to Mr Hancock suggested he saw his role as working out how much money would be needed, then leaving it to the Treasury and the Prime Minister to decide how the funds should be raised.

The Treasury is said to have doubts about the over-40s plan, which would hit a generation still paying off student debts, and facing rising childcare costs.

Mr Johnson has already pledged that no one will have to sell their house to pay for care costs, though a capped contribution by those who need care, possibly deferred until after they have died, remains a possibility.

Meanwhile, councils, charities and health organisations have called for a “complete reset” of social care in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Local Government Association and more than 30 organisations, including the Alzheimer’s Society, the NHS Confederation and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, set out seven principles for change, among them “adequate and sustainable funding and supporting the care workforce”.

James Jamieson, the LGA chairman, said: “The Covid-19 crisis has proved we need a complete reset, not a restart, when it comes to the future of social care. It is more important than ever that we find a long-term and sustainable solution.”