“In the end it can be summed up quite easily -; they want people to pay more towards the cost of their care.” (BBC 18 May 2017)  The central proposal from the Conservatives is to include the value of a person’s home in calculating charges, regardless of their care needs, it’s become known as the “Dementia Tax“!

Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Milton Keynes South, Cllr Hannah O’Neill, believes that the Conservative Party Manifesto proposals for older people (18.05.17) will hurt thousands of Milton Keynes pensioners who own their own home. The BBC has pointed out that “Three-quarters of people over the age of 65 are homeowners and the average value of a property in 2015 was £279,000. You don’t need to be a maths genius to see that means plenty of people will become liable for more of their care costs.” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39957879)

Cllr O’Neil said, “There are 32,282 people over 65 in Milton Keynes. This is 12.1% of the population and rising as the earlier generation of Milton Keynes residents start to age. Most are home owners and they will have to pay more for their care. It seems wrong that, having paid tax all their lives, they then have to pay a lot for their care in old age.“

Cllr O’Neill added, “With an older peoples population of 32,000 and home ownership being around 70%. The ‘Dementia Tax’ changes outlined in the Conservative manifesto will hit around 22,400 older people. They cannot escape the charges because they are home owners.“

Cllr O’Neill continued, “I am also concerned that the proposals for extra charges will hit thousands of people who will be forced to push the cost of that care on to their families. It is like sending a big bill to the families of older people.“

National Social Care Service.

On Wednesday, by contrast, Labour launched its National Social Care service. This would provide integrated support across both the NHS and social care services. It would be funded by £8 billion of extra money.

She concluded, “The Conservatives are proposing to push the costs of social care on to pensioners and their families. I prefer Labour’s approach that social care, like the NHS, should be funded primarily from a fair system of general taxation and with the NHS and social care services working closely together.“