Warning social care reform plan will 'put greatest burden on lowest paid' in Cornwall
All six of Cornwall's MPs voted in favour of Boris Johnson's proposals
Last updated 9th Sep 2021
There is a warning that the Prime Minister's social care reform announcement will put the biggest burden on the lowest paid workers in Cornwall.
Boris Johnson has announced that there will be a rise in national insurance of around five-pounds-a-week for a typical worker to fund it.
The Prime Minister says this will also help to address the NHS backlog.
Initially billions from the cash raised will be going into the NHS.
But the health secretary has promised social care will get the 5-point-3 billion agreed, over three years.
All six of Cornwall's MPs voted in favour of the PM's reform plans on Wednesday evening (8th September).
But the Trades Union Congress (TUC) says the announcement is “deeply disappointing” to Cornwall’s workforce.
Instead they want to see a tax on wealth and a pay rise for care staff.
TUC South West Secretary, Nigel Costley, said: “New funding for social care is long overdue. But Tuesday's announcement will have been deeply disappointing both to those who use care, and to those who provide it.
“The Prime Minister promised us a real plan for social care services, but what we got was vague promises of money tomorrow.
“Cornwall’s care workers need to see more pay in their pockets now. Nothing today delivered that. Instead, the only difference it will make to low-paid care staff is to raise their taxes.
“This is so disappointing, especially after the dedication care workers have shown during this pandemic keeping services running, over-stretched, under-resourced and often putting their lives on the line to look after our loved ones.
“And workers in Cornwall deserve more than higher taxes as they struggle to get on the housing ladder or afford local rents due to the plight of second homes and holiday lets.”
“Proposals to tax dividends should have been just once piece in a plan to tax wealth, not an afterthought to a plan to tax the low-paid workers who've got us through the pandemic.
“We know social care needs extra funding. But the prime minister is raiding the pockets of low-paid workers, while leaving the wealthy barely touched.
“We need a genuine plan that will urgently tackle the endemic low pay and job insecurity that blights the social care sector – and is causing huge staff shortages and undermining the quality of care people receive.”
The TUC published proposals on Sunday to fund social care and a pay rise for the workforce by increasing Capital Gains Tax.
The union body says increasing tax on dividends is a welcome first step to reforming the way we tax wealth, but that it won’t generate the revenue needed to deliver a social care system this country deserves.
Instead, by taxing wealth and assets at the same level as income tax, it claims the government could raise up to £17bn a year to invest in services and give all care staff a minimum wage of £10 an hour.
TUC analysis shows that seven in 10 social care workers earn less than £10 an hour and one in four are on zero-hours contracts.
Polling published on Sunday by the TUC showed that eight in 10 working adults – including seven in 10 Conservative voters – support a £10 minimum wage for care workers.
Speaking in the House, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said: "You can’t fix the Covid backlogs without giving the NHS the money it needs. You can’t fix the NHS without fixing social care, you can’t fix social care without removing the fear of losing everything to pay for it, and you can’t fix health and social care without long-term reform. The plan I am setting out will fix all of these problems together."Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid said: "Our nurses, doctors and care workers have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic in our hour of need.
"But the pandemic has taken its toll - waiting times are longer than ever before and social care is under even greater pressure.
"This additional funding is a critical investment in our country’s future - it will give the NHS the extra capacity it needs to get back on its feet and is a vital first step in the reform of our broken care system."
You can find out more about the social reform plans here.