Tuesday, 14 September 11:00
“Social Care: Priorities and Funding Options” – Report Launch
The social care system is in a bad state. A decade of austerity for local government has left many of those who require it with unmet need for care, providers unable to meet their costs and staff leaving the sector as pay falls behind levels of other occupations. To fix it would require additional funding to the tune of £14 billion per year- the total cost of filling gaps in the existing system, increasing staff pay to levels in line with equivalent NHS staff and introducing a cap on care costs. The government has mooted a 1% increase in all NICs rates to fund social care reform, but its proposal has been heavily criticized for placing the burden of paying for improvements in social care almost entirely on the shoulders of the working-age population.
This event launches a new TBI report setting out the priorities for Social Care reform and alternative options to raise the required funding in a more intergenerationally fair and progressive way. The report considers an income tax increase for the over 40s, replacing Council Tax with a proportional tax to property values and reforms to Capital Gains Tax. It also considers alternatives to the Dilnot Commission’s proposals, making them more progressive by replacing a fixed monetary cap on care costs with a cap of 15% an individual’s assets.
Given the political challenge of finding a sustainable funding source for social care, a renewed effort to build cross-party consensus is needed. This event brings together a distinguished cross-party panel to discuss the report and where agreement can be found to secure the future of Social Care.
Panel
- Sir Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats
- Liz Kendall, Labour MP
- David Gauke Former Secretary of State for Treasury & Justice
- James Browne, report author, Head of Income and Inequality Analysis, TBI
- Chair: Ian Mulheirn, Executive Director, UK Policy, TBI
