Councils say it will be 'impossible' to introduce £86,000 elderly care cap over fears it will cost £30billion over the next decade

The future of the elderly care cap hangs in the balance after town halls warned it would be 'impossible' to introduce next year as planned.

The £86,000 lifetime cap was announced by Boris Johnson in 2021 to protect pensioners from having to sell their homes to pay for care.

It was originally meant to be introduced last year. However it was pushed back to October 2025 after councils said they could not afford to pay for the new system or recruit enough staff to make it work.

Now, in a fresh blow to elderly people, local authorities are calling for another delay of at least another year.

In a new survey by the County Councils Network, 86 per cent of its members said they were not well prepared for the new regime.

And 92 per cent wanted its introduction pushed back at least a year because of uncertainty over funding, soaring demand for services and a continuing workforce crisis.

The group says the total cost of the reforms, including a more generous means test as well as the cap on personal care costs, now stands at £30billion over the next decade - and cannot be funded from budgets used to cover day-to-day spending.

Martin Tett, adult social care spokesman for the group, said: 'We are just over 15 months away from the introduction of seismic reforms in adult social care, and the new Government must make an urgent decision on their future.

'Councils have serious concerns over their deliverability: these new estimates show the costs have increased significantly to £30billion over the next decade, while currently the reforms are totally unfunded.

'The political hiatus before the election also meant preparations have been suspended nationally, while locally councils have been focused on day-to-day services, and still face major shortages in social workers.

'As a result, nine in ten local authorities are not well prepared to implement the reforms in October 2025. To put it bluntly, it will be impossible to implement these reforms next autumn in the current timescales and with no funding committed to the reforms.

'Equally, the Government cannot take money currently being spent on day-to-day adult social care services for these reforms, with our survey showing it will have devastating consequences for councils and the thousands of people who rely on local authority care.

'We have always supported the principles of the reforms, as they will make the system fairer. But if the Government is to proceed with the reforms, then it must delay them by at least a year - but likely more - reassess the real costs and set out a way to fully-fund them.

'We understand yet another delay will be frustrating for campaigners, but the under current circumstances introducing them next year could have some serious consequences.'

The demand puts the new Government under huge pressure either to press on and risk the scheme collapsing, delay further and anger pensioners - or scrap it completely.

Labour's manifesto did not include a pledge to introduce the cap. 

When asked if the party remained committed to it during the election campaign, Wes Streeting, now Health Secretary, said: 'That's the plan, as things stand.'

Told that that did not sound like a firm commitment, he replied: 'We don't have any plans to change that situation and that's the certainty and stability I want to give the system at this stage.

'Last night the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'We know that people are suffering without the care they need, and we are committed to ensuring everyone lives an independent, dignified life.

'We are going to grip the social care crisis, starting with the workforce by delivering a new deal for care workers.

'We will also take steps to create a National Care Service underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country.'

Sources said that at the early stages of the new government, ministers are considering advice on how to rebuild social care and no decisions have been made.

There have also been suggestions that the Labour government could launch a Royal Commission on the future of elderly care.