The party today (November 26) launched a “pensioners pledge card” highlighting seven policies which it said would “restore dignity and support” for older people living in Britain.
Labour’s pledge includes plans to introduce free personal care, create a National Care Service, as well as invest £10.8bn in social care provision.
The party had in September outlined its plans for free personal care, meaning adults would not have to pay for help with daily tasks such as getting in and out of bed, bathing and washing, and preparing meals in their own homes, and residential care.
Today's pledge card comes after the Conservative’s manifesto, published on November 24, was criticised by the pensions industry for its lack of detail on how it plans to fix the social care funding crisis.
Boris Johnson had promised in his first speech as prime minister that he would “fix the crisis in social care once and for all” but so far nothing concrete has materialised.
The Conservative manifesto only stated “nobody needing care should be forced to sell their home to pay for it,'' with no detail on how the party plans to address the funding issue.
Labour also promised to compensate the nearly 4m women that lost out when the changes in the state pension age were implemented without “fair notice”.
The pledge card also included plans to keep free TV licences for the over-75s and to insulate all homes.
John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, said: “Labour’s new pledge card sets out our offer to restore dignity and proper support for older people after being abandoned by the Conservatives.
“Older people have had their pensions threatened under the Tories and nearly four million women born in the 1950s had their pensions robbed.
“The scandalous state of the care system is perhaps the biggest crisis facing our country. Labour will build a new National Care Service with free care for those who need it at the heart.”
Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon said: “Winning the grey vote is clearly important to all political parties and Labour’s pensioner pledge card sets out its stall, including where it differs from the Conservatives.”
He added that all the main parties’ manifestos differed when it comes to social care funding and that a cross-party consensus would work better to solve this issue.
Mr Cameron said: “The Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative manifestos all take very different approaches to the hugely important issue of social care funding. While included in Labour’s pensioner pledge card, this is an issue which will affect all generations.
“The best solution might involve a combination of all of these things [promised by the different parties], so it will be interesting to see if whoever is in power in future would seek, and be able to achieve, cross party consensus.”
While Labour pledged free personal care and a £100,000 cap on personal contributions to other costs such as residential care room and board, the Liberal Democrats suggested a 1p increase in income tax to help fund care.
The Conservatives did not provide any detail other than promising no-one needing care will have to sell their home to pay for it.
Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter, said Labour’s plans for a national care service sounded promising but only if paired with the NHS.
Ms Griffin said: “The National Care Service promised by Labour has legs if it is indeed the only point of contact for the public with care.
“At the moment there is a significant administrative challenge when it comes to trying to navigate state support care, which involves the local authorities and the NHS.
“If there was to be a National Care Service it would need to work closely with the NHS and it would need to be abundantly clear what people can receive and how they can claim it.”
Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group, said: “In terms of social care it is clear that the parties treat it very differently, with none really grasping it as the number one domestic issue.
“The biggest challenge is that people have lost trust in all politicians that any of them deliver on social care.”
Mr Padgham added: “Labour is moving in the right direction, with more funding pledged and a vision of a longer-term plan for social care, albeit that NHS and social care are still being treated separately, which is disappointing.
“The challenge for Labour of course is whether they will be elected and even after that, whether they will be able to implement all their promises, including social care.”
amy.austin@ft.com
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