How would Lib Dem plan without spending a dime private care work?

Free personal care could help the elderly stay in their own homes longer and free up hospital beds under a Liberal Democrat plan.

The party is pushing proposals that would assist older and disabled people with everyday tasks like washing, dressing and receiving medication, and boost the pay of care workers to address staff shortages.

The plan for England would be similar to the system in Scotland, where free personal and nursing care is available to all adults assessed by their local authorities as eligible.

The Lib Dems were first to announce a detailed care policy for England in the election campaign.

Proposals from Labour and the Conservatives are now awaited, on a issue many health and finance experts feel is neglected by politicians as it is too difficult and expensive to address.

The Tory Government decided in autumn 2022 to put the launch of a lifetime care spending cap on hold until autumn 2025, the other side of the election.

That plan would introduce an £86,000 ceiling on how much an individual has to spend on care – but based on some, not all, of their private contributions rather than on total costs – and raise the asset threshold to start receiving support from £23,250 to £100,000.

> How is care funded at present? See the box below 

Labour has previously said it would create a national care service that would join up more closely with the NHS, plus open Neighbourhood Health Centres, but it has reportedly suggested it would not legislate on this in a first term in office.

Meanwhile, the Greens have promised £20billion a year more for social care by 2030 as part of a massive spending package for health services, including improving hospitals and equipment.

Research among over-45s about social care shows 47 per cent are delaying financial planning for possible residential needs until the Government confirms new rules on how this might be funded in future.

Just Group, which carries out annual surveys on knowledge of and attitudes to social care, added that this rises to 62 per cent among those aged over 75, who are likely to need care the soonest.

‘Repeated can-kicking on policy by successive governments is negatively influencing people’s engagement with the later life social care system, and deterring them from making much-needed plans should they need this support,’ says the financial services firm.

As it is first off the blocks in the election campaign, we take a look at the details of the Lib Dem proposal, which might prove influential – especially as a version of it already operates in Scotland – and round up responses from experts.

What is the Lib Dem plan for free personal care?

The Lib Dems say they would ensure no one has to sell their home to pay for care by introducing free personal help for those who need it based on the Scottish model.

It would cover people at home and in care homes too, but in the latter case residents would still have to pay towards their accommodation.

The party would also hire more social care staff and introduce a ‘carer’s minimum wage’ paying £2 more than the usual minimum wage. 

Unpaid carers would get a hike in Carer’s Allowance and a statutory guarantee of regular respite breaks.

The Lib Dems plan to cover the £2.7bn cost by ditching a tax break for big banks.

What do social care and finance experts say?

Free personal help with washing or dressing is only a small part of care needs

The Liberal Democrats are right to put the desperate need to improve social care as a key part of their election proposals, says Camille Oung, a fellow at health think tank the Nuffield Trust.

Free personal care in England could help more people to access some state-funded care, but the costing attached to both this and increasing the pay of care workers looks to be inadequate.

All parties should see comprehensive reform of care as a priority but this needs to be built on credible and sustainable funding rather than further tinkering at the edges.

Free personal care – such as washing or dressing – is only a small subset of what social care can offer, and it risks reducing the flexibility to tailor care around the needs of individuals, including working age disabled adults.

Without adequate funding stretched local authorities would struggle to deal with an increase in demand for personal care, as was seen in the early years of implementation in Scotland.

We want to see a social care system that enables people to make choices to live their lives, and it’s unlikely this will be achieved by defining a narrow package of care that appears only focused on older people.

It is welcome that the Liberal Democrats would seek to address care worker pay, which for too long has been uncompetitive with other sectors, but this should form part of a wider long term workforce reform including career progression and recognition that makes sure social care is a valued and attractive sector to work in.

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Free personal care would be a huge improvement – if adequately funded and delivered

We welcome the Liberal Democrats’ plans to tackle some of the urgent problems facing the social care sector, which has been undermined by decades of political neglect and underfunding, says Lucinda Allen, senior policy officer at the Health Foundation charity.

We await to see if other political parties follow suit and offer detail on their plans to address this longstanding policy failure.

Under the current system, many older and disabled people go without care they need, staff pay and conditions are poor and reliance on unpaid carers is high.

While free personal care would not protect people with the highest care needs against catastrophic care costs, it offers basic support for everyone with the cost of some care services.

Free personal care, if adequately funded and delivered, would be a huge improvement on the current threadbare safety net for people with care needs and their families.

It is also positive that the Lib Dem proposals include plans to increase wages and improve the professional status of care workers, but the scale of the challenge shouldn’t be under-estimated, with one in 10 posts in the sector currently vacant.

The next government must put in place meaningful reform to address the deep unfairness of the social care system.

Reform and investment are needed to improve access to care, protect people against extreme care costs, boost staff pay and conditions, and better support unpaid carers. Inaction is not an option.

A wave of demand for social care is coming our way

For decades, we have been beating the drum to encourage long-term, crossparty policy development to support the creaking social care system, says Stephen Lowe, a director at financial services firm Just Group.

But successive governments have been content to consign the problem of social care to the ‘too difficult’ box.

With 3.5 million people over 65 now living alone, an increase of around 420,000 in the last decade, government should see the wave of demand for social care that’s coming our way.

Aside from population pressures, the beleaguered NHS is also suffering from the lack of adequate social care which makes it difficult to discharge patients adding to existing pressures on the service.

The Liberal Democrats have made clear their policy for fixing social care which is inextricably linked to the supporting the NHS. We wait to hear what, if anything, Labour or the Conservatives have to offer.

Unhappily, nobody will be surprised if despite all the noise around the general election, there is a deafening silence on meaningful social care plans.