Social care ‘levy for everyone’
A compulsory levy would be introduced to help pay for social care for adults in England, under plans to be unveiled by ministers in a white paper later.
They will call for a new commission to look at when and how the fee should be applied, and how much it should be.
It is widely agreed the current means-tested system needs reform because of the ageing population.
But a compulsory charge is opposed by the Tories, who called one proposal for a levy on estates a death tax.
The subject is now likely to become a key issue during the election campaign.
Demands for care have been rising as people live for longer and the costs have been ballooning.
Some councils have already started reacting by limiting access to support to those with the most severe needs.
The result is that many elderly people living at home have been left to fend for themselves or rely on the help of family and friends for assistance with washing, eating and dressing.
Thousands of people have also been forced to sell family homes to pay for residential care.
The government put forward three funding options for a new system last summer.
The options all involved the state providing a basic level of funding which could be topped up by personal contributions, an insurance scheme or a compulsory fee.
The government consulted widely on the proposals, with many charities and social care chiefs backing a compulsory charge as the best way to raise the money needed to sustain the system.
But cross-party talks in recent months have failed to reach a consensus.
The Tories are adamant people should not be compelled to pay, and instead back a voluntary insurance scheme.
One of the suggestions initially floated – a compulsory charge, perhaps as much as £20,000, which could be taken from a person’s estate after death – was dubbed a "death tax" by the Tories.
Ministers have since said such a flat levy would not be adopted if the government does win the forthcoming election.
Alistair Darling reiterated that position in the chancellors debate on Channel 4 on Monday night.
However, Health Secretary Andy Burnham will say in Parliament on Tuesday that he still favours a compulsory levy of some sort.
He will suggest an independent group of experts be appointed to look at exactly how such a fee could be applied.
Mr Burnham will make it clear that only by making everyone pay – with the exception of the very poorest – will what he calls a National Care Service be achievable.
‘Must sort this out’
The government expects that a new system would take more than the lifetime of the next parliament – perhaps 2016 – to be introduced fully.
As an interim measure, it has already said it would provide free care to people in their own homes with the most severe needs.
And from 2014, those who have been in care homes for at least two years will get their care for free, Mr Burnham will say.
A spokesman for shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "They seem to still want a death tax but they just want to put off telling anyone about it for five years."
Councillor David Rogers, of the Local Government Association, said: "We need a new system and that will inevitably be a combination of tax revenue and individual contributions in some form.
"The next government must sort this out."
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