Boris Johnson has outlined the changes to social care in England.

From October 2023, no one starting care in England will be forced to spend more than £86,000 over their lifetime, Boris Johnson said, telling MPs he would protect people from the “catastrophic fear of losing everything”.

How Covid pandemic affected Boris Johnson’s decision

Mr Johnson said: “Having spent £407 billion or more to support lives and livelihoods throughout the pandemic from furlough to vaccines, it would be wrong for me to say that we can pay for this recovery without taking the difficult but responsible decisions about how we finance it.

“As a permanent additional investment in health and social care it would be irresponsible to meet the costs from higher borrowing and higher debt. From next April, we will create a new UK-wide 1.25% health and social care levy on earned income hypothecated in law to health and social care with dividend rates increasing by the same amount.

“This will raise almost £36 billion over the next three years, with money from the levy going directly to health and social care across the whole of our UK.”

Changes to social care in England

Announcing the changes, the Prime Minister said: “We will do all this in a way that is right and reasonable and fair.”

Boris Johnson said the state should target its help at protecting people against the “catastrophic fear of losing everything to pay for the cost of their care”, adding: “That is what this Government will do.

“We are setting a limit on what people can be asked to pay and we will be working with the financial services industry to innovate and help people to insure themselves against expenditure up to that limit.

“Wherever you live, whatever your age, your income or your condition, from October 2023 no-one starting care will pay more than £86,000 over their lifetime and no-one with assets less than £20,000 will have to make any contribution from their savings or housing wealth.

“That’s up from £14,000 today.

“Meanwhile, anyone with assets between £20,000 and £100,000 will be eligible for some means-tested support and this new upper capital limit of £100,000 is more than four times the current limit, helping many more people with modest assets.”

Boris Johnson accepts changes break 2019 election manifesto pledges 

Boris Johnson accepted his plans broke his 2019 election manifesto pledges but he blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for the change of approach.

The Prime Minister told MPs: “No Conservative government ever wants to raise taxes and I’ll be honest with the House, I accept that this breaks a manifesto commitment – which is not something I do lightly.

“But a global pandemic was in no-one’s manifesto, Mr Speaker.

“I think the people of this country understand that in their bones and they can see the enormous steps that this Government and the Treasury have taken.”

He went on: “This is the right, the reasonable and the fair approach – enabling our amazing NHS to come back strongly from the crisis, tackling the Covid backlogs, funding our nurses, making sure people get the care and treatment they need in the right place at the right time, and ending a chronic and unfair anxiety for millions of people and their families up and down this country.”