Axeing of social care reform 'fails another generation'

The Labour government has “failed another generation of families” with the cancellation of a series of planned social care reforms, the architect of the plans has warned.

- MILLIE COOKE

Rachel Reeves announced the cancellation of the Dilnot reforms on Monday, alongside a swathe of other spending cuts to address a black hole in the public finances left by the previous Conservative government.

Sir Andrew Dilnot, whose government-backed commission proposed a cap on social care costs, described the changes as “a tragedy”.

The commission’s findings were presented to the government more than a decade ago, with proposals including a £35,000 cap on lifetime individual liability for care costs, liability for food and accommodation costs limited to £10,000 per year and the assets threshold for cut-off of state support being raised from £23,250 to £100,000.

The plan to cap social care costs was delayed by former chancellor Jeremy Hunt until October 2025. But during the election campaign, Labour indicated it would implement the reforms despite the proposals not appearing in the party’s manifesto.