Controversial social care funding cap reform backed by MPs
Boris Johnson's social care changes were branded "daylight robbery"
Last updated 27th May 2022
Prime Minister Boris Johnson won over just enough MPs to support his new social care plans for England, despite warnings that poor households may miss out.
272 votes to 246 were in agreement with his plans to end council support payments towards the new 86,000 cap on lifetime care costs.
The new reforms to social care will see:
- Anyone with assets of less than £20,000 will not have to pay anything towards the cost of care from October 2023, which is up from the current level of £14,250.
- Those with more than £100,000 in assets - such as in the value of their home, savings or investments - pay everything up to a maximum of £86,000.
- Those with assets of £100,000 or less can qualify for council help to pay, but the new change means they will also eventually have to pay up to £86,000 themselves.
Ahead of the vote, the Prime Minister assured MPs that the plans for reform to social care funding were "incredibly generous".
Former Health and Social Care Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, was a tory MPs who remained in support of the decision, arguing that the "slightly more stingy" measure is still a "step in the right direction".
"Daylight robbery"
However, the plans were met with disapproval, with there being 19 Tory MPs who rebelled against their government.
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth urged more tory MPs to do the same prior to the vote, and branded the decision as "daylight robbery".
He told Sky News: "If you live in a £1 million house, perhaps in the Home Counties, 90% of your assets will be protected if you need social care.
"But if you live in an £80,000 terrace house in Hartlepool, Barrow, Mansfield or Wigan, for example, you lose nearly everything.
"That is not fair, that is not levelling up, it is daylight robbery."