Prime Minister to unveil overhaul of social care sector in England

The Prime Minister will vow to end “catastrophic costs” for social care users in England when he sets out the long-awaited reform proposals

The prime minister will be announcing the plans to MPs, alongside money to help the NHS respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He is expected to breach his election promises by raising National Insurance (NI) rates by about 1.25%.

And the plan has prompted much backlash from some of his own Tory MPs.

It is widely accepted that major changes are needed to the social care system, which helps older and working-age disabled people with day-to-day tasks, such as washing, dressing, eating and medication.

Labour said it agreed with the need of reform, but criticised the proposed rise in NI, saying it would unfairly target young people and lower earners.

A 1.25% increase to NI would mean someone on a £30,000 salary would pay an additional £255 per year.

This comes after Boris Johnson is facing disputes with members of his own party over his plans to raise national insurance contributions (NI) of 25 million workers in the UK to raise £10bn to pay for social care for the elderly.

But the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg understands that after late-night talks, ministers agreed pensioners in work would also have to pay the new “health and social care levy” – despite people being exempt from NI payments after reaching state pension age.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Breakfast the plans to “deal with a broken social care system” represented “truly historic and ambitious reform”.

“One-in-seven people pay £100,000 or more for their social care, so in my view that nettle has to be grasped,” he said.

The BBC also understands Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to suspend the so-called “triple lock” on pensions, designed so rises in state pensions were not overtaken by the rising cost of living.

The promise made by the Tories is that the state pension increases each year in line with the rising cost of living seen in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation, increasing average wages, or 2.5%, whichever is highest.

Cabinet members have begun arriving at Downing Street, where the PM will present his plans to them, before setting out the details in a statement to the Commons.

Transport Secretary Grants Shapps told reporters when he arrived: “We are going to fix social care.”

Mr Johnson will later join the chancellor and Health Secretary Sajid Javid for a press conference.

On Monday an extra £5.4bn over the next six months was announced to help the NHS in England tackle backlogs worsened by the pandemic.

But it is thought Tuesday’s announcement will also allocate cash for the long-term, to increase hospital capacity in England to 110% of its current level.

This comes after industries from pig farming, to fast food restaurants have said that the lack of skilled staff members is disrupting their business. The CBI have said that the staff shortages would harm the UK’s economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Johnson will tell MPs the NHS has been “put under enormous strain by the pandemic” and cannot be expected “to recover alone”.

He is also expected to say the government will not “duck the tough decisions needed” to help the service and fix England’s “broken” social care system, again with longer-term funding.

But Laura Kuenssberg said the “biggest unknown” would be how much cash social care gets upfront, having been told support will be “phased in”, while the NHS would be “main beneficiary of the NI hike for the first three years”.

Joyce Pinfield from the National Care Association said the sector was hoping there would be funding for the short and long term.

She told the BBC: “We do need something immediately… because most care providers are at breaking point.”