By Jaimie Kaffash
19 February 2010
The Conservatives’ decision to pull out of a social care summit today could ‘wreck’ the consensus that has been building between the three main parties.
The Tories failed to attend the talks between Labour, the Liberal Democrats and major care charities. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley described the talks as a ‘Labour Party political ploy’. His party is against what it calls a ‘death tax’ – a proposal by the government to charge a compulsory fee of up to £20,000 to be taken from an individual’s estate after death to fund state-provided care.
Lansley said: ‘I will talk to anybody, anytime, anywhere, but I won't take part in a Labour party political smokescreen that stops people making progress and covers up the fact that they are pursuing the option of a compulsory death tax.’ The Conservatives are in favour of a voluntary insurance scheme.
But the Labour Party reacted furiously to the moves by the Conservative Party, condemning adverts depicting a gravestone with the words ‘R.I.P. off’ engraved.
A source close to Health Secretary Andy Burnham told Public Finance: ‘There absolutely was a consensus building. And it was wrecked when the Conservatives went public with their adverts, which were denounced by care charities who obviously don’t appreciate a debate about the future of elderly care be represented by a gravestone and a totally plucked out-of-the-air figure of £20,000 tax which we ruled out before the posters went out.
‘Today we are holding talks with the LibDems and all the major charities to take the issue forward. We have said the Tories would be welcomed back to the table if they stopped their negative campaigning but they refused to do that.’
After the talks, Burnham said there was widespread agreement over the care issue. ‘For all the sound and fury of recent days, there is a good degree more consensus across political parties and the care world than people may realise.’
Attendees at the summit agreed a statement of principles, including calls for: a national care service, where individuals make a contribution in partnership with the state; a system that enables assessments of need to be portable across the country; personalised care, giving individuals greater say; and prioritising preventative care and early support.
Before the meeting, the LibDem health spokesman, Norman Lamb, said that agreed principles should provide the basis for a national debate on social care. ‘The social care system in this country is currently not fit for purpose and is crying out for reform. We have to move on from cheap political point scoring. The issue is too important to be used as a political football.’
Stephen Burke, chief executive of the Care and Counsel charity, told PF that there had been a ‘lot of consensus over the key issues, including the funding of care’ during the talks. He added: ‘Obviously it was disappointing that the Conservatives were not present, but hopefully they will take on board the final statement from the talks.’
19 February 2010
The Conservatives’ decision to pull out of a social care summit today could ‘wreck’ the consensus that has been building between the three main parties.
The Tories failed to attend the talks between Labour, the Liberal Democrats and major care charities. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley described the talks as a ‘Labour Party political ploy’. His party is against what it calls a ‘death tax’ – a proposal by the government to charge a compulsory fee of up to £20,000 to be taken from an individual’s estate after death to fund state-provided care.
Lansley said: ‘I will talk to anybody, anytime, anywhere, but I won't take part in a Labour party political smokescreen that stops people making progress and covers up the fact that they are pursuing the option of a compulsory death tax.’ The Conservatives are in favour of a voluntary insurance scheme.
But the Labour Party reacted furiously to the moves by the Conservative Party, condemning adverts depicting a gravestone with the words ‘R.I.P. off’ engraved.
A source close to Health Secretary Andy Burnham told Public Finance: ‘There absolutely was a consensus building. And it was wrecked when the Conservatives went public with their adverts, which were denounced by care charities who obviously don’t appreciate a debate about the future of elderly care be represented by a gravestone and a totally plucked out-of-the-air figure of £20,000 tax which we ruled out before the posters went out.
‘Today we are holding talks with the LibDems and all the major charities to take the issue forward. We have said the Tories would be welcomed back to the table if they stopped their negative campaigning but they refused to do that.’
After the talks, Burnham said there was widespread agreement over the care issue. ‘For all the sound and fury of recent days, there is a good degree more consensus across political parties and the care world than people may realise.’
Attendees at the summit agreed a statement of principles, including calls for: a national care service, where individuals make a contribution in partnership with the state; a system that enables assessments of need to be portable across the country; personalised care, giving individuals greater say; and prioritising preventative care and early support.
Before the meeting, the LibDem health spokesman, Norman Lamb, said that agreed principles should provide the basis for a national debate on social care. ‘The social care system in this country is currently not fit for purpose and is crying out for reform. We have to move on from cheap political point scoring. The issue is too important to be used as a political football.’
Stephen Burke, chief executive of the Care and Counsel charity, told PF that there had been a ‘lot of consensus over the key issues, including the funding of care’ during the talks. He added: ‘Obviously it was disappointing that the Conservatives were not present, but hopefully they will take on board the final statement from the talks.’
