The Prime Minister announced a new settlement for older people yesterday: a state pension ‘that rises every year’, no personal care charges and a high-quality National Care Service to give peace of mind in later life
- A National Care Service will be established in the next Parliament, providing free personal care for older people, based on need rather than ability to pay.
- The current State Pension Triple Lock will be maintained – but only until April 2030. From then, it will be adjusted so the State Pension rises by at least inflation or 2.5% each year with a new link built in to keep pace with earnings over time.
- Savings under the adjusted Triple Lock will be used for a new National Care Service, with Baroness Casey to recommend how and when it is built up.
The Prime Minister announced a ‘new settlement’ for older people: a state pension that rises every year, no personal care charges and a high-quality National Care Service to give peace of mind in later life.
The vision set out today draws a line under decades of drift with a clear plan to fix the system so that people can receive the dignity and security they need.
The Prime Minister warned today that if we don’t fix our broken social care system, it will eventually break the NHS too. There are huge costs to the NHS both through pressures on A&Es and an inability to discharge patients home because of a lack of adequate social care.
The new National Care Service will be introduced in phases, so its scope can grow as the savings increase from adjusting the Triple Lock, and as workforce and provider capacity are built up. It will be fully funded – and not through borrowing.
Baroness Casey will recommend how this could be done through the work of her independent Commission, which is being informed by public deliberation and ongoing cross-party talks. Her report is due in summer 2027.
The current Triple Lock will be maintained throughout this Parliament, increasing the State Pension by over £2,000. But from April 2030, the adjusted Triple Lock will mean the State Pension continues to rise by 2.5% or inflation – whichever is higher – and by even more if that is required to maintain its value relative to earnings.
This will ensure the living standards of pensioners keep up with the rest of the population. For example, if the value of the State Pension is around a third of average earnings by 2030/31, as average earnings rise, the State Pension will rise in line with that too.
This adjusted Triple Lock will mean that if inflation spikes, pensioners will be protected. If wages rise, pensioners will share in that, with the State Pension tracking earnings over time. Nobody’s pension will ever go down. And State Pensions will be put on a sustainable footing for decades to come.
The Government will legislate for the change during this Parliament.
Adjusting the Triple Lock is estimated to reduce state pension spending by £15 billion a year by the end of the 2030s, rising to £50 billion a year by 2050.
The UK will continue to have one of most generous approaches to increasing the State Pension in the world, according to the government – but British pensioners have the LOWEST STATE PENSIONS IN EUROPE.
The plans provide a credible pathway to delivering a National Care Service that will put an end to years of neglect where vulnerable people have been left at risk as a result of Westminster’s failure to face up to the difficult issues. The new system will include personal care, helping with things like eating, bathing and using the toilet.
Following the Prime Minister’s vision for the core principles of the service, Baroness Casey’s independent Commission will continue its work to develop recommendations on how to deliver it in practice, and will soon begin the next phase of its ‘Big Conversation on Care’ to make sure everyone gets the chance to feed in their views.
Around three in four adults over 65 are expected to need care and support during later life, with one in seven facing costs of more than £100,000. Currently, whether someone pays for care varies significantly by condition.
Two people with the same need for help with everyday tasks may face different rules if one needs support linked primarily to a health condition and the other to social care. The result is a broken system where the most vulnerable in society are at risk of losing everything just to access basic care.
The service will not cover bed and board, for which existing means-tested council contributions will remain. Councils will continue to exclude the value of a home from financial assessments where a partner or dependent relative lives there, and deferred payment agreements will remain available to help eligible people avoid having to sell their home during their lifetime to meet care costs.
Tackling the broken social care system is part of the Prime Minister’s pledge to take on the most difficult issues facing the country that have been left ignored by politicians for too long. ‘By facing up to the challenges that others have said are intractable, like fixing the youth unemployment crisis and ending rough sleeping, this government is working to bring back hope’.
REACTION:
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney commented: “In Scotland, we provide free personal care for older people without punishing pensioners. Andy Burnham removing the triple lock would simply repeat the mistakes of Keir Starmer.
“The blame for the UK’s financial mess lies with successive Westminster governments, not pensioners.”
Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK said: “We applaud the Prime Minister for his absolute commitment to fundamentally reform our broken social care system and to build a National Care Service.
“It is a critical issue that affects us all. Almost everyone will give or receive care at some point in our lives. Yet 16 years since the last White Paper set out the fundamentals of what a National Care Service might look like, the complexity and problems with social care have grown far worse. Change has never been more urgent, and the Prime Minister has grasped this.
“Recent Carers UK research has found a staggering 1.1 million people have left employment to care within the last two years, the equivalent of 1500 people a day. One in five employees (20%) now has a caring responsibility.
“Great social care has the ability to transform lives, help people to stay in work and also create valued jobs. As Baroness Casey’s work moves forward, we want to see the Prime Minister’s commitment today become a really ambitious settlement, with unpaid carers at its heart, that will truly deliver, providing people and families with the high-quality support they need.”
Responding to Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s speech at Labour Conference today and his commitment to the creation of a National Care Service, Kirsty McHugh, Chief Executive of Carers Trust, said: “The Prime Minister’s plan to build a National Care Service is bold, ambitious, and undoubtedly long overdue. For years, we have been calling for a sea change in social care, and it’s refreshing to finally hear those calls echoed back from the very top of Government.
“In the midst of planning for a National Care Service, we must ensure the needs of unpaid carers are heard and acted on. The demands of caring can have a devastating impact on people’s finances, wellbeing, and ability to live fulfilling lives.
Caring is an innate part of human life and to be celebrated, but many carers provide care for 100+ hours a week, with some delivering support around the clock – without pay or comprehensive support. We cannot forget the biggest providers of care – the millions of unpaid carers.
“We know from our 135+ strong network of local carer services that there are so many pockets of brilliant voluntary sector work taking place across the country. We want to see a National Care Service that builds on these foundations and places the needs of unpaid carers at its heart.
“Though the sector has heard commitments to reform time and again, never before has a Prime Minister placed social care so clearly at the front and centre.
“We are determined to work with the Government and other organisations across the system to ensure that a National Care Service goes beyond political promise and becomes a reality this time.”
Joanna Elson CBE, Chief Executive at Independent Age said: “It was extremely welcome to hear the Prime Minister talk about what older people living on a low income are going through.
“Too often they are left out of the conversation, yet 1.7 million people over State Pension age are currently living in poverty, and another one million teeter dangerously on the edge.
“We were pleased, too, to hear the Prime Minister’s pledges to lower energy bills and improve housing standards – which will be welcomed by older people in financial hardship.
“Before a double lock is implemented, we need to know that the UK Government has fully considered, and put in place protection for, older people on low incomes. Any changes that are made to the State Pension must ensure no current or future pensioners on a low income lose out.
“It is important to see action to tackle pensioner poverty directly. For instance, we would love to see a public take-up strategy to drive up the numbers receiving vital entitlements like Pension Credit and Housing Benefit.
“In the spirit of the Prime Minister’s speech, everyone in this country needs to know they can rely on a strong social safety net if they reach older age without an adequate income.”
