I am going to be deaths head at these proceedings. All of us would like to improve provision for social care at every level and I am among them.
BUT we have a huge budget deficit, which is still growing and we cannot continue to spend money we have not got and are having to borrow from elsewhere to sustain the social contract. Sooner or later the debts must be paid. We castigate individuals who build up huge credit card bills to sustain a standard of living they cannot afford, but forget that what applies in the home applies to the state as well. If that sounds Thatcherite, I am unapologetic. I was not a Thatcherite in the past nor am I now but sound finance is the only way a secure and fair social contract can be delivered.
The only solution to the countries current problems is to increase taxation and/or reduce benefits. One of the first groups I would target is us, the retired. One of the reasons that groups like the Intergenerational Foundation and others have been so successful in blaming us for all societies ills is because they have ring fenced those on pensions from sharing in the pain and this has, rightly, caused resentment.
So I make the following proposal. All pension 'add-ons' should be abolished; free TV licences for over 75s, free bus passes, the fuel supplement, even free prescriptions, everything over the straight pension payment. To mitigate against the effect this would have on poorer pensioners I would raise the Pension Credit level by, probably, at least £20 a week. This sum should be enough to replace the value of the lost benefits for poorest pensioners and would ratchet up through those whose incomes are currently above benefit level, bringing into benefit many who now receive nothing extra.
This would decide the discussion about how to define 'rich' pensioners, you don't, it comes down to whether you qualify for benefit or not. What the initial saving would be I do not know but there would be an immense saving in administrating all those bells and whistles that would no longer need staff to process forms and run them.
I would modify but not abolish the 'bedroom' tax. I would apply it to those of pension age. Many older people who own their own home decide to downsize when they retire, not just to have an easier home to run but to match their incomes and I think this should apply to those in rented accommodation as well. However I would relax the rules for older people by allowing them a spare bedroom. I would abolish the 'bedroom' tax for anyone of working age settled in their home before they qualified for housing benefit but apply it if for any reason someone moved house after they qualified for help.
I would limit all child benefits to two children per family after a date at least a year ahead. I would not withdraw benefit from larger families now receiving it. As the children grew their entitlement to benefit would end but anyone having a third or further child after the date set would not get benefit. I would also look at disability benefits. I would abolish the disability premium on income support if you are receiving a disability payment, the disability payment should be increased to cover everything. I would also look at families, not many I know, where 3 or more members receive disability benefit, are there, sadly, economies of scale.
Council tax should be based on a percentage of house value based on the price a householder or landlord paid when they bought the property, with a revaluation after every 10 years the property remains in the same hands. This will end the problem of rateable values being based on decades old valuations and ensure that what is paid in council tax is in line with current prices. Those buying bigger houses will pay the same proportion of the value of their house in council tax as everybody else. If they cannot afford it they will need to buy a cheaper house.
I am not sure how much money this will save but two thirds of any savings should go to debt reduction and one third to increasing social welfare until such time as our current national debt is halved.