Social care cap faces delay until election

But NHS budget will be ‘protected’ from cuts

THE cap on social care costs promised by the Government could be delayed until after the next election, it emerged last night.

As part of plans to fill a £50billion black hole in the public finances, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Health Secretary Steve Barclay are understood to have approved a postponement of at least a year.

The two men also agreed that the NHS budget would be ‘protected’ from cuts. However, hospitals will be asked to find ‘efficiencies’ to help fund work to cut the record waiting list, which has

‘Another betrayal of older people’

topped seven million. A one-year delay on the original start point would entail October 2024 – close to the final date possible for the next election. But Whitehall sources said it might be pushed out further as ministers scramble to find savings.

One source pointed out that the health and social care levy, which was supposed to help pay for the care cap, has since been scrapped. They added: ‘It’s looking like at least a one-year postponement for now, but that could slip further by the time we get to the Budget on November 17.’

Further delay would mean the Government would fail to deliver on its 2019 manifesto pledge that ‘ nobody needing care should be forced to sell their home to pay for it’.

Former pensions minister Ros Altmann said it was ‘another betrayal of older people’. The row came as:

■ Rishi Sunak warned the Cabinet that the NHS faced a ‘challenging winter’;

■ Downing Street dropped a target to cut 91,000 jobs from the Civil Service;

■ Tory MPs warned that raising taxes to fill the hole in the public finances risked ‘shrinking the economy’;

■ Defence Secretary Ben Wallace appeared to accept boosting his budget to 3 per cent of GDP might be dropped;

■ A former deputy governor of the Bank of England said a windfall tax on the banks could raise tens of billions;

■ Unions warned they would resist proposals to limit public sector pay rises to 2 per cent next year.

Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt are engaged in a series of behindthescenes meetings with ministers about filling the £50billion expected deficit.

The Chancellor is targeting £25billion in spending cuts and £25billion in tax rises and on Monday the Treasury warned that ‘everybody’ faced tax rises. Sources said a planned four-year freeze in income tax thresholds would now last for six years, dragging millions of workers into higher tax bands.

The social care cap is designed to limit the amount anyone will have to pay for care in later life to £86,000.

Delaying it for a year would save the Treasury £1billion, with savings of up to £3billion a year possible if it is postponed for longer.

Baroness Altmann said: ‘Here we are again. The Cameron government legislated for a cap and it never happened. Then Boris said the problem was fixed and people would not have to sell their homes. Well it isn’t fixed, and it looks like it is about to be put in the “too difficult” box again.’

Caroline Abrahams, of the charity Age UK, said ditching the cap would ‘leave Boris Johnson’s promises on social care in shreds’.

She added: ‘In the last year the cap was substantially weakened by the Government’s decision to invest less money in it, so if its implementation is now going to be postponed it will feel like the whole idea is being kicked into the long grass. That will be a bitter disappointment to many older people who pay for their own care and for their families.’

ONLy six weeks ago, the Tories promised an era of low taxes and high growth.

How the tone has changed. Rishi Sunak is now warning of a new age of austerity – tax rises for all and crippling cuts in spending.

The Mail understands the need for fiscal discipline. State spending has mushroomed alarmingly after Covid and the energy bailouts, and it must be reined in.

Public sector pay increases have to be realistic. Caving in to union demands for double-digit settlements – under threat of industrial action – would be ruinous.

And given the need for savings, the Prime Minister should stick to the plan to cut 91,000 jobs from the bloated Civil Service.

But in his desire to balance the books, Mr Sunak must not overdo the hair shirt.

Delaying the social care cap will mean more elderly people facing the injustice of selling their homes to pay exorbitant bills.

Meanwhile, families and business are already suffering from the cost of living crunch. Mr Sunak must be careful not to increase their burden. The execution of Trussonomics was a disaster but the policies contained some fundamental truths.

The best way to avoid recession, while generating growth and prosperity, is to reward hard work and enterprise. And the most effective way to do that is to keep taxes down. This is not just uncontroversial – it should be in the Tories’ DNA.