Andy Burnham 'social care tax': London workers and well-off pensioners face paying most under old age support plan

Workers and well-off pensioners in London face bearing the brunt of a possible new levy to tackle Britain’s social care crisis.Previous Prime Ministers have repeatedly failed to rise to the challenge of properly addressing this crisis which leaves many pensioners facing financial difficulties, poor care or both.Prime Minister Andy Burnham vowed to fix the social care systemPA WireBut he has yet to explain how his flagship social care reforms could be funded.One funding model, reportedly part of a series of options drawn up by civil servants at the Department for Health and Social Care, would be workers paying into a privately-managed fund to pay for their care in old age.It would be set at 1.8 per cent of earnings above £6,240, according to The Telegraph, paid by people over the age of 34. The funds built up would be invested to use for social care for workers later in life when their cohort reaches old age.In addition to the general fund, it would be supplemented by wealthier elderly people paying for between 10 and 45% of their own social care costs, depending on their assets.Such a policy would particularly affect London and the South East given the number of well-off pensioners are far greater than in other regions.Andy Burnham has long pledged to address the UK’ social care crisisPASalaries are also significantly higher in the capital than in other regions, so a 1.8% flat levy would see Londoners paying more into the fund.As part of Gordon Brown’s government in 2010, then Health Secretary Mr Burnham suggested a levy to fund a proposed national care service could take 10% off people’s estates after they died.Read MoreMinisters are yet to announce any possible funding mechanisms and it is not yet clear if the new Government has yet narrowed down the options.Privately-run nursing home chains could be excluded from the social care reforms, according to The Times, to stop taxpayers money being used to bolster their profits.Instead more social care could be provided by community-led services run by local authorities, not-for-profit companies or charities.Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats accepted the Prime Minister’s invitation “to build that spirit of collaboration from the start” to try to sort the care crisis.Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has warned against tax rises to fund social care reformsPA WireBut there were already signs of difficulties ahead with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch writing to Mr Burnham to challenge him to rule out tax rises or increased borrowing to pay for social care reform.Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey told the BBC: “The current system is broken. I think everyone can agree to that.“I just hope that all parties can go into these talks in a way which is desperately trying to find a solution.”Nigel Farage criticised Mr Burnham for ignoring Reform UK.Nigel Farage has criticised Andy Burnham for not inviting Reform UK to the social care talksPAAhead of a social care speech in London on Wednesday, Mr Burnham insisted the time for “playing politics” on the issue is over, “when the human cost of that means carers struggling, families paying the price and our NHS buckling under the strain”.He has described as “not defensible” a system that can see people lose their homes and savings to pay for care.Mr Burnham was also due visit a care home on Wednesday, alongside Baroness Louise Casey, who is currently leading a commission into social care.There, she is expected to announce her so-called “Big Conversation on Care”, seeking public opinion on what a social care system should look like, what people should pay and what role the state should play to inform her major review.Baroness Louise Casey is chairing a review into social carePA ArchiveLady Casey, who is expected to publish her first report from her review later this year, noted in a speech earlier this month that there have been no fewer than 22 attempts since 1997 at reforming the sector, none of which she said had “fixed the foundations”.She stressed that there is a need for an “honest conversation about how to build something better” than the current system, which she has previously described as “patched together”.