Kemi Badenoch challenges Andy Burnham on social care funding
Kemi Badenoch has urged Andy Burnham to rule out tax rises or increased borrowing to pay for social care reform, reports BritPanorama.
In a challenge to the Prime Minister ahead of an expected intervention this week, the Tory leader stated that her party is willing to collaborate with the Government but only if two “core principles” are met.
Mr Burnham is expected to deliver a speech on adult social care in the coming days, aiming to “run towards problems that have been neglected,” according to a No 10 source. He asserts that the funding and operational challenges facing adult social care in England have been overlooked by prior administrations.
In a letter to the new Prime Minister, Badenoch wrote: “First, any solution to the issues around social care must also be fair to those who have made provisions and saved up over the course of their lives.”
“Second, the money must be found by reducing current spending. You must rule out any tax rises, or increased borrowing that will ultimately fall on the next generation to pay for.”
She continued, “The tax burden has risen to a record high under Labour, and there is already speculation that you will increase taxes further at the budget this autumn in order to pay for all the things you have announced in your first week, plus the outstanding gaps in funding for the defence investment plan.”
“On borrowing, over the course of this Parliament the Labour government is currently planning to borrow over a quarter of a trillion pounds more than the plans you inherited, and debt is forecast to rise every single year.”
“With businesses closing or relocating, youth unemployment higher than in the eurozone, and the cost of living already causing real hardship for many people, the last thing Britain needs is further tax increases to pay for social care.”
Unlike NHS care, social care is not free at the point of use, and high costs can sometimes force individuals to sell their homes to cover their needs.
Individuals with savings exceeding £23,250 are ineligible for assistance with care costs from their local council. Mr Burnham has already pledged to “use some of my political capital” to overhaul the system, which previous governments have promised but failed to deliver.
Previously, Burnham had proposed establishing a national care service for England during his tenure as health secretary in Gordon Brown’s government in 2010, but these plans were undermined by Conservative claims that Labour would introduce a “death tax” to finance it.
In her correspondence, Badenoch expressed hope that they could “find common ground” on this “hugely important issue for so many people and one that matters a lot to me.”
She cautioned, however, that “previous efforts to form a durable consensus around social care have not been at all simple.”
