Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to “be honest” about any shortfall in his plan to fund a National Care Service. The premier promised to “say where that money is coming from” for the free-at-the-point-of-use service, leaving the door open to tax rises.
Funding plan before next election
He said a plan will be put before the next general election that will say “this is how we will fund it”. Mr Burnham added that with a care service, “the NHS truly will be able to make savings, cashable savings, from a better social care system”.
The Prime Minister also rejected the suggestion that he was picking on pensioners with the pensions triple lock change as “completely wrong”.
Triple lock scrapped from 2030
Mr Burnham’s speech confirmed plans to scrap the pension triple lock in its current form from 2030 to help fund the new national care service for England. But he might have to hike taxes or slash spending to top up the budget for the care service if the move does not free up enough cash.
“If there’s a shortfall, well, we’d have to be honest about that shortfall and say where that money is coming from,” Mr Burnham said.
Treasury constraints
He admitted that the Treasury does not have “huge room for manoeuvre” as Chancellor John Healey draws up his first Budget next month. Mr Burnham said: “We’re thinking all of the time, ‘how do we take a bit of pressure off people, give them some breathing space?’
“It’s why one of the first decisions I took as Prime Minister was to remove VAT off electricity bills.”
