Rishi Sunak quietly 'kills' Boris Johnson's flagship welfare plan

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was strongly opposed to Boris Johnson's proposal to resolve the welfare crisis back in 2021. Credit: Justin Tallis/Getty

Rishi Sunak quietly 'killed' Boris Johnson's flagship welfare reforms, government insiders have admitted, sparking new Downing Street Tory pressure for clarity.

Prime Minister was strongly opposed to its predecessor's proposal for The Telegraph's decision could reveal a long-term social safety net crisis back in 2021 when it was discussed internally and then announced.

One source said Mr. Sunak, then chancellor, thought Mr. Johnson's proposal was «crap.» Another said he was strongly opposed to the plan. A third said the finance ministry was leading the internal opposition.

Just weeks after Mr. Sunak became prime minister, welfare reform implementation has been delayed until the next general election, which polls say could lose to the Tories.

No payment plan

The plan's original means of funding—an increase in national insurance dubbed the «health and social assistance levy»—are also no longer active, meaning there is no current reform payment plan.

But government insiders declared that the plan was effectively dead. . «He was killed,» said one source familiar with the situation. «This has been postponed indefinitely.»

This means that 13 years after the Conservatives first came to Downing Street, the party has virtually no proposal to end the long-term welfare crisis that its leadership believes in.

The events have drawn ire from longtime is a term used by campaigners to address the welfare crisis and calls for clarity on how the government plans to address the problem.

“Totally inadequate”

Sir Andrew Dilnot, former director of the Institute for Financial Studies, whose work on this issue inspired Mr. Johnson on the proposals, criticized the inaction of the government.

Sir Andrew told The Telegraph: “It's terrible that we still haven't reformed social assistance funding. It is difficult to imagine a more vulnerable group than those who need social assistance for a long period of time.

“Both the level and structure of support in the current conditions are completely inadequate, and this state of affairs is shameful.”< /p>

Caroline DineNage, Conservative MP and former Welfare Secretary, said: «People need to know if there will be light at the end of the tunnel.»

“One in ten of us will experience catastrophic care. expenses that could erase any money accumulated during our lifetime. And it's a total lottery which one of us it will be. At the moment, the targets keep moving, and this is extremely unfair.

«Number 10 and the Treasury should provide clarity on when and how their social assistance plans will be implemented.»

Consistent promises.

Successive Conservative prime ministers have pledged to solve the long-standing problem of caring for the elderly in need of social assistance with support not covered by the National Health Service.

David Cameron approved the proposals put forward by Sir Andrew, but they are not and have not been implemented. Theresa May launched a new policy in her 2017 election manifesto, but the move backfired and was abandoned.

Johnson pledged to develop a welfare plan during his 2019 presidential campaign, and in 2021 convinced Sunak and Sajid Javid, then health secretary, to support his proposals. can pay £86,000 in social services and a minimum £100,000 «minimum» asset, below which the state will help pay.

Mr. Sunak strongly resisted

Both Mr. Sunak and Mr. Javid are known to have strongly resisted the plan. Mr. Sunak feared that this would not stop people from selling their homes to pay for social assistance, which is one of the plan's explicit goals.

But Mr. Johnson eventually got his way, and that's about it was announced in September 2021.

The package was to be paid for with a Health and Social Security tax, a tax increase that caused controversy among Conservative MPs frustrated by the growing tax burden.

Liz Truss got rid of the tax before it came into existence when she was prime minister. Mr. Sunak and Jeremy Hunt, his chancellor, last fall delayed the implementation of reforms until October 2025.

Mr. Hunt said in his Fall 2022 statement: about their ability to implement the Dilnot reforms immediately, and will therefore delay the implementation of this important reform for two years, providing funding to allow local authorities to provide additional packages of services.”

In return, local authorities received an additional £2.7bn in an additional two-year adult welfare grant to help them cope with the increased pressure on their services.

Workforce. plans unclear

If the Tories lose the next general election due next year, it is unclear whether Labor will keep the proposals. The Tories are more than 10 percentage points behind Labor in the polls.

The second former Conservative welfare minister told The Telegraph: “The dynamics of the need for more social assistance have not changed in any way over the years, they have only worsened … If you do not solve it now, all you are doing is saving problems for the future.” ”.

Tax Council Flexibility

A government spokesman said £7.5bn of additional funding over two years was announced last fall. This was partly offset by more flexible municipal taxation.

A spokesman said: “This historic increase in funding will enable more people to access high-quality health care and help address some of the challenges in the sector, including waiting. lists, low pay rates and pressure from the labor force.

“We remain committed to implementing adult welfare fee reform and supporting those who need it, so we are giving local authorities more time to prepare and provide more funding to help with their immediate needs.»

A government source said, «After the pandemic, we urgently needed to back up social assistance, so we prioritized allocating up to 7.5 billion pounds over two years to expedite hospital discharges and support local councils in building greater social care capacity.

“The Prime Minister is committed to building a sustainable social care system and we will do so as soon as the sector is back in balance.”