Plan to save social care system is delayed

Suggested Topics

Long-awaited moves to overhaul the social care system face yet more delays amid fresh signs of government alarm over their potential cost.

The proposals might not now be published until the autumn, with ministers still agonising over how to afford the burgeoning expense of looking after a rapidly ageing population.

Ministers had been due to publish their response to the Dilnot Commission, which drew up a blueprint for reform, last autumn. Now there are doubts over whether a planned White Paper on the issue will materialise before the Commons rises next month.

Yesterday, a Downing Street spokeswoman would say only that the Bill would be published "within the coming months", but made clear there were problems agreeing how any new system would be funded. "We have to make sure we get reform right to deliver changes to the system that are sustainable," she said.

Under the Dilnot plans, the amount individuals had to pay for social care before the State stepped in would be capped at £35,000, at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of £1.7bn a year.

Matthew Hancock, the Tory MP for West Susffolk, said the Government was moving towards a solution but cross-party agreement was essential.

"The need to tackle the problem of social care and also to ensure that people don't have to sell their homes to pay for it if they don't want to, I think, is vital and is grasped," he told the BBC.

Lord Warner, a Labour peer, warned that the current system was in danger of failing unless action was taken.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Life & Style blogs

Million pound investment to bring Liverpool homes back into use

Dozens of empty homes in two of Liverpool’s most deprived areas will be brought back into use thanks...

Building blocks

A roundup of the latest property news

London renters are getting poorer and moving further out

Plus, do energy saving measures boost house prices?

       
 

ES Rentals

    Independent Dating
    and  

    By clicking 'Search' you
    are agreeing to our
    Terms of Use.

    iJobs Job Widget
    iJobs General

    FX Options Front Office Java / C# Developer

    £500 - £600 per day: Orgtel: FX Options Front Office Java / C# Developer - Ba...

    Project Manager - Front Office - Regulatory IT

    £600 - £700 per day: Orgtel: Project Manager - Front Office - Regulatory IT C...

    Lighting Design Engineer

    £33000 - £35000 Per Annum: The Green Recruitment Company: The Green Recruitmen...

    Are you an Primary NQT looking for your first role in Essex?

    £21000 - £22000 per annum: Randstad Education Chelmsford: NQTs required now fo...

    Day In a Page

    Babies behind bars: A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail

    Babies behind bars

    A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail
    Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm for under 25s

    Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm

    Is Mosquito, the alarm only under-25s can hear, a blessing or a bane?
    The art of living in small spaces: Architects are learning how to make less, more

    The art of living in small spaces

    Space in cities at a premium so architects are learning how to make less, more...
    Special report: The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

    The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

    After four 'nice' years as Governor of Bank of England, things turned decisively nasty
    Zombie nation: Our enduring fascination with a world full of death and destruction

    Zombie nation: Our fascination with death and destruction

    A new season of shows on Radio 4 is inspired by dark tales of future dystopias. Meanwhile, zombies are marauding in the multiplexes...
    Martin Stephen: 'Ofsted says comprehensives are failing the most able but teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

    'Teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

    It doesn't take a selective system to nurture the best minds, says a former head of St Paul's boys' school.
    The retail empires strike back: Can new technology lure us back to the high street?

    Can technology lure us back to the high street?

    The high street has been bruised and battered by online firms but in-store technology is helping to enliven the retail experience...
    The 10 Best new smartphones

    The 10 Best new smartphones

    Photos, films, music, apps and browsing - the latest mobiles can do it all
    Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

    Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

    McLaren man admits 'failed gamble' with car has left him pinning hopes on 2014 campaign
    James Lawton: Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe

    James Lawton

    Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe
    'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

    The true effect of the badger cull

    'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
    Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

    First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

    Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
    Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

    Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

    After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
    Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

    Steve Tongue

    Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
    Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

    Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

    Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over