London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

Labour to announce it would reverse austerity cuts to adult social care

Labour to announce it would reverse austerity cuts to adult social care

Party expected to offer free help with washing, dressing and meals for people over 65

A Labour government would launch a multibillion-pound plan to reverse austerity cuts to care services and fix England’s growing social care crisis, shadow ministers are expected to announce next week.

A £7bn-a-year programme of free personal care for people over 65 who need help with washing, dressing and eating will be at the heart of the strategy, which is likely to be unveiled by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, on Monday.

The plan would pump an additional £8bn into local authority adult social care departments over the next few years to increase the number of care packages, expand specialist dementia services, and invest in higher pay and extra training for care staff.

Labour would introduce a lifetime cap limiting the amount individuals pay for residential care before state support kicks in. It does not specify a figure but promises it will be less than the £72,000 cap set in the 2014 Care Act, which was never implemented.

“The adult care system is so mired in crisis that we have to do something about it,” a Labour source said. “We have to have a system that is fair across the generations and pools the financial risks.”

The plan would be paid for through general taxation, in a clear rejection of the idea, favoured on some on the right, that fair and comprehensive adult social care services can be paid for through private insurance.

Free personal care was introduced for over-65s in Scotland in 2002 to pay for help with daily tasks such as bathing, dressing, personal hygiene, going to the toilet, and meal preparation. Numbers receiving free care doubled, but the cost was offset by reductions in costly hospital admissions.

Funding will be distributed to councils according to levels of local need, and national standards of eligibility will be set to attempt to remove the postcode lottery by which individuals with similar needs receive differing levels of care depending on where they live.

Adult social care has climbed up the domestic political agenda in recent months, amid signs of growing political consensus that the system is in crisis. An estimated 1.4 million people who need care are denied it as a result of cuts, means-testing and rationing, while many others receive only basic “clean and feed” levels of care.

Providing care for the growing number of older people – by 2040 a quarter of the UK population will be over 65 – as well as a big increase in the number of disabled people of working age has put huge strain on councils whose finances have been squeezed by nine years of cuts.

Since 2010, £7.7bn has been cut from adult social care budgets in England. Last month the Age UK charity described the care system as “working at full pelt, stretched to its limit and still failing people left, right and centre”. There are fears that in some areas of England private social care providers dependent on council funding could collapse.

It became a key issue for the Tory leadership contenders over the summer, and one of Boris Johnson’s first promises after becoming prime minister was to “fix the crisis in social care”, although plans to publish funding options have reportedly been put back until at least after Christmas.

The sheer expense of reforming social care funding has meant that proposals have been vulnerable in recent years to being denigrated as a “death tax” or a “dementia tax”, meaning any plans for public investment are seen as electorally high-risk.

However, a high-powered all-party House of Lords report in July, chaired by the Tory Lord Forsyth, which anticipated Labour’s policy by calling for billions to be invested in social care, suggests there may be scope for political consensus on the issue.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×