Saving social care: A fair funding settlement for the future

Article

Adult social care has been cut substantially since the onset of austerity. This is increasingly having severe consequences on the frontline including rising unmet need and pressures on quality and safety. These pressures are likely to increase as demand for care grows ahead of available funding, resulting in a £2.7 billion funding gap by 2020/21 and £9.5 billion by 2030/31.

In looking to fill this funding gap, government should ensure that any solutions are simultaneously sufficient to fill the gap; inter and intra-generationally fair; and politically achievable. This report has looked at four options – means testing Winter Fuel Payments; scrapping the Triple Lock on pensions; raising National Insurance Contributions and increasing Inheritance Tax – and measured them against these three criteria.

Related items

  1. A form with the title 'UK Visa Application' sits on a desk next to a passport in a union jack cover

    The British business investment visa: A new model for investment migration in the UK

     We recommend a new approach to investment migration in the UK focussed on maximising economic benefits and minimising the risks of abuse.
  2. A group of primary school aged children using ipads around a table, a little girl smiles at the camera

    "Primary is what comes first": How end of key stage 2 exams impact disadvantaged children

    End of primary school tests need reform to work better for the children who need the most support at school.
  3. A diverse group of runners smiling and high-fiving spectators as they cross the finish line

    The Europe agenda: Our values

    Why we must redesign our relationship with Europe around the values we share and want to defend.