Tory MP suggests ‘insurance system’ to fund social care after Conservative election victory

Tory MP Damian Green suggested an "insurance system" to fund social care just hours after the Conservatives won a majority in last week’s general election.

The Conservative manifesto did not provide details on how a government led by Boris Johnson would fund social care but the prime minister has promised that no one will have to sell their home to pay for it.

Mr Green, who was a senior figure in Theresa May’s government, told LBC he did not support increases in general taxation to pay for the system and argued for "those who can afford it" to take out insurance policies to fund care.

“We all accept there has to be more money to go into the system,” he replied.

“You can pay it just out of general taxation and say it's all free, but that means that people who are currently taxpayers will have to pay towards their own care at the end of life but also they'll instantly start paying for the older generation's care as well.”

The Conservative MP instead suggested there should be “some kind of insurance system so that those who can afford to take out an insurance policy should be encouraged to do so”.

Mr Green has previously written a report on the issue in which he advocated for adopting a model similar to the state pension to pay for care.

That would mean the government would provide a basic standard of care while encouraging people to top up the provision with money from their savings or housing wealth.

When asked whether the government could have a policy similar to Ms May’s unpopular “dementia tax” proposal in 2017, Mr Green argued people would only have to pay for care using their property wealth in a “controlled amount”.

“If you have a big enough insurance system you don't need people selling their homes,” he said.

“You need a bit of property wealth to do it but it'll be a controlled amount - they'll know what they're spending, they'll know what they've got left in their house - that's the system that I advocate.”

Despite being a prominent member of the May government, Mr Green is not currently a member of Mr Johnson’s cabinet and is not in charge of social care policy.

In July, the prime minister promised to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all” and claimed he had a “clear plan” prepared to do so.

However, he did not provide details for that plan in the Conservative manifesto, leaving the future of funding on the controversial issue unclear.

Ms May’s 2017 election campaign was derailed after she was forced into a U-turn following backlash against her social care plans, which were widely referred to as a “dementia tax”.

Mr Green, who defended Ms May’s proposal, has said the government has been unable to seriously deal with social care because of the political deadlock caused by the hung parliament elected in 2017.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "We are determined to find a long-term solution to the challenges in social care to ensure every person is treated with dignity and offered the security they deserve.

"We believe the right approach is to build cross-party consensus as we move forward and will outline next steps shortly."