No10 'is speeding up its plan' for death tax to fix social care

A major review into Britain's broken social care system could be brought forward as Andy Burnham considers how to fund his plans for a National Care Service.

The Prime Minister is said to be preparing for an announcement on social care within weeks after making clear he would be 'willing to expend a lot of political capital' to fix the sector.

Government troubleshooter Baroness Louise Casey is currently leading an independent commission on adult social care that will present a range of options to reform and fund the system.

The commission is not due to present its final findings to the Prime Minister until 2028, but Mr Burnham could bring this forward to as soon as next year, according to The Guardian.

The PM reportedly plans to accelerate his timetable for such a service and will give Baroness Casey scope to work up a range of options, including new taxes or a social insurance model.

On Wednesday night the Conservatives warned that plans to bring forward the commission could see every Briton hit with a new 'punitive death tax within months'.

Asked earlier this month about whether the commission would look at a potential 'death tax' to fund social care, Baroness Casey said that 'everything is on the table'.

Mr Burnham has repeatedly backed the introduction of a 'levy on all estates' to fund social care after first proposing the idea when he was health secretary more than 16 years ago. 

In 2010, he suggested a 10 per cent levy could be deducted from the property of older people when they die to fund social care.

Dubbed a 'death tax' by the Tories, it was never implemented. But just hours after becoming Prime Minister, Mr Burnham made clear fixing social care would be a priority for him.

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: 'It appears that he is gearing up to introduce a punitive death tax within months, taking aim at people who have worked hard, saved hard and invested well to leave a legacy for their children.'

Unlike NHS care, social care is not free at the point of use and anybody in England and Northern Ireland with assets or savings worth more than £23,250 does not qualify for state-funded care.

High costs often mean people are forced to sell their homes to pay for their care.

A new social care levy could end the need for this, but instead take a 10 per cent cut from the value of an estate.

A percentage charge could see millions of Britons whose estates were not previously large enough to pay inheritance tax face a form of 'death tax' for the first time.