Lords: Spend £8bn a year on free social care

TORY MPs and peers today pile pressure on the next prime minister to fund free care for the elderly.

In a major report, a House of Lords committee chaired by a former Tory minister demands £8 billion a year is spent providing free personal care to end the ‘national scandal’ of poor standards.

There were also calls for social care to be taken over by the NHS, with the taxpayer funding all costs up to a certain level.

Under England’s broken care system, people have to pay the full cost of their care down to their last £23,250 – meaning thousands are denied the chance of handing their house to their children.

Fear of the sky-high costs means thousands of elderly Britons are forced to go without assistance with vital tasks such as washing, dressing and preparing meals.

Ministers have repeatedly delayed the publication of a long-awaited green paper on social care reform. Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt admitted it was ‘fair criticism’ to say the Government had kept the public waiting too long for it to carry out its plans on social care.

The report by the Lords economic affairs committee, chaired by former Cabinet minister Lord Forsyth, said billions must be spent to restore quality and access in the social care system to an ‘acceptable’ standard. It called on the Government to spend £8 billion a year to fix ‘underfunding’ in the system.

It suggested introducing free personal care so those with ‘substantial and critical’ needs can receive help with daily activities. Eventually, by 2025, all elderly people should receive free personal care.

Lord Forsyth, a Scottish secretary under John Major, said: ‘Social care is severely underfunded. More than a million adults who need social

‘Riddled with unfairness’

care aren’t receiving it, family and friends are being put under greater pressure to provide unpaid care, and the care workforce continues to be underpaid and undervalued.

‘The whole system is riddled with unfairness. Someone with dementia can pay hundreds of thousands of pounds for their care, while someone with cancer receives it for free.’

It came as Tory MP Jacob ReesMogg, a key supporter of leadership favourite Boris Johnson, said the NHS should take control of social care.

‘The current system does not work,’ he said. ‘It is arbitrary.’