New NHS-style social care system could take decades, Dilnot says

A new NHS-style social care system for England could take decades to be implemented, economist Sir Andrew Dilnot has told the BBC.

Sir Andrew, who led a commission proposing reform of the system 15 years ago, said Prime Minister Andy Burnham appeared to want social care to be completely free, including residential costs.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the cost of such a scheme would be “very substantial”.

And with Burnham promising to put his plans before voters at the next general election, Sir Andrew said change “is now further away”.

Adult social care provides state support to help people live more independently, including assistance at home.

However, unlike the NHS, social care is not free at the point of use in England, leaving some people facing huge bills.

In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Burnham suggested his proposals for social care would mean “everyone contributes, everyone is covered” and refused to rule out tax rises to fund such a system.

He promised to set out more details of his vision in his conference speech on Tuesday.

However, he suggested any proposals would not be implemented before the next general election, as he wanted to stick to the commitments in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto, which included a promise not to increase national insurance, income tax or VAT.

Labour MP and former minister Darren Jones told Laura Kuenssberg that scrapping the pensions triple lock was an “option that the government should consider alongside others” in order to fund social care reforms.

The triple lock pension policy guarantees that the state pension will increase by either average wage growth, inflation or 2.5% – whichever is highest – and keeping it in place is also a Labour manifesto pledge.

But Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said scrapping the triple lock would not be enough to pay for social care and tax rises would also probably be needed.

The next general election is not due until August 2029, although Burnham could choose to call one earlier.

Sir Andrew told the BBC change on social care “is now further away” than had been implied when Burnham first promised a new national care service for England in a speech in July, shortly after he became prime minister.

He pointed out that if proposals are included in Labour’s 2029 election manifesto, that would be 30 years after Sir Tony Blair launched a royal commission on social care and more than 15 years since his own commission reported back.