Tories and Labour silent on social care charging, a week before local elections

The Conservative and Labour parties have both refused to reveal their current policies on charging for adult social care, just days before local elections in England.

Disability News Service (DNS) approached the four largest parties contesting next week’s elections – the Conservatives, the Green party, Labour and the Liberal Democrats – and gave them all more than five days to respond.

Although the Greens and the Liberal Democrats provided some details of their policies – with both suggesting they would move towards ending charges for social care at home if they won power in a general election – both the Conservatives and Labour refused to provide any details.

Having initially refused to respond to a request to comment, a Labour spokesperson eventually said: “We won’t provide comment to your enquiry on this occasion. Thank you for your understanding.”

The Conservative party also refused to provide a statement on its social care charging policy, despite several requests by DNS.

A party spokesperson eventually said: “Given this [sic] a question on policy, you’ll need to speak to the Department for Work and Pensions on this.”

All four parties were asked the same question: “What is your party’s policy on social care for these elections, and particularly what is the policy on councils you control working towards abolishing all charges for care provided at home, as has been done in Hammersmith and Fulham and Tower Hamlets?”

In contrast to the Conservatives and Labour, the Green party pointed to its national policy of calling for free social care.

But when asked if any Green-controlled councils would work towards abolishing all charges for care provided at home after the local elections, the party had failed to comment by noon today (Thursday).

The Liberal Democrats said they supported a policy of free “personal” care – as introduced in Scotland in 2002 by the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition – and a more generous means test and assistance for those unable to pay for their accommodation costs.

But when asked if the party would push Liberal Democrat-controlled councils to enact this policy if they win power next week, the party had failed to comment by noon today.

The policy introduced in Scotland did not scrap all care charges, as support with activities such as housework, laundry and shopping were not covered, but the party has so far refused to say if it would go further and push for an end to all care charges.

Last month, disabled people’s organisations praised the “bold” and “progressive” actions of Tower Hamlets council – currently run by the Aspire party – after it promised to become just the second council in England to abolish all charges for care and support for disabled people in their own homes.

Labour-run Hammersmith and Fulham abolished all care charges for disabled people living independently in the community in 2015.

The Conservative government has faced years of mounting anger over its repeated failure to reform adult social care and fix the funding crisis that saw the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services warn this week that the system was “close to breaking point”, with millions of people “in pain or distress because they aren’t getting the care they need”.

Tens of thousands of disabled people across the country are having debt collection action taken against them every year by their local authorities over unpaid care charges.

Despite Labour’s silence, an inquiry that will have significant influence on Labour’s policy on independent living at the next general election is set to rule out scrapping care charges.

Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health and social care secretary, has also made it clear that his party will prioritise increasing the wages of care workers above the need to eliminate care charges, if it wins power at the next general election.

But despite those comments, party members approved a motion at last autumn’s Labour conference that called for a National Care Service that was co-produced with service-users, publicly funded, and free of charge.

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