Social workers split on paying more tax to increase spending on social care, poll finds

Social workers are divided on whether they would pay more tax to boost spending on services including social care, a Community Care poll has found.

This follows the government’s decision to scrap the planned cap on care costs and a training fund for adult social care workers, citing the need to address the gap in public finances it claimed had been created by the Conservatives.

The decision was made despite the Labour Party having pledged to implement the cap and associated reforms to adult social care charging during the election campaign.

At the same time, the party also promised not to raise the three major taxes – income tax, VAT and national insurance – limiting its capacity to tackle the pressures on public finances.

A recent Community Care poll amassing 2,800 votes asked social workers whether they’d be willing to pay more tax to increase public spending on services, including social care. It revealed mixed results.

While a third (31%) said taxes were already too high and that “the government needs to be more efficient”, a majority (69%) were in favour of some form of tax increase. However, they were split on the methods.

One group (26%) backed tax rises without qualification, on the grounds that “we need more funding”.

A comparably-sized segment (25%) said taxes should only rise for “the wealthiest”, while the rest (18%) said they would only be willing to pay a social care-dedicated tax.

Calls to tax the wealthy

Practitioners commenting on the related articles shared their ideas for raising revenue to pay for provision.

Andrew was firmly in the camp of taxing wealthier people.

“Until the government bites the bullet and taxes the rich, super rich and big corporations properly and fairly, in other words when these people actually pay their fair share, then there will be no fully funded, efficient public services,” he said.

Similarly, Berni backed the idea of making council tax more progressive by increasing levies on those with more expensive properties.

“I think changing the council tax banding would be a good place to start and should raise more money for local councils,” she said. “It does not seem right that I pay the same CT as someone who owns a very expensive property, who has the means to pay a fair amount.”

A social care-specific tax

She also mooted the idea of a social care-specific levy but warned that this would be a “slippery slope”.

However, Jeremy was of the view that the new Labour government may well bring such a tax in.

“It would not surprise me if a care levy was introduced to be deducted from earnings similar to national insurance,” he said. “That doesn’t solve the current challenges but it would enable [Rachel] Reeves to say she is tackling the problem unlike previous chancellors.”

‘People should pay for their care if they have the money’

Others were of the view that the cap on care costs was not the best use of public spending in any case.

Jackie pointed out that most of the benefit would go to people with higher levels of savings, rather than poorer people, adding: “I do still believe if people have the money they should pay for own social care.”

Others pointed to the significant burdens it would place on already stretched councils.

“There is no way at all the local authority I work for would be able to implement this ‘cap’ properly or fairly,” said Anna Borne.

“We would need a lot more social workers, finance assessment staff, and a lot more funding.”

“I agree, I work in a local authority and we simply could not afford it,” added Rebecca. 

“Nor, do we have the workforce to carry out the thousands of extra assessments. It was a terrible idea in the first place.”

What are your thoughts on increasing taxes to boost public spending?