Gordon Brown to make local taxpayers pay the price for personal care changes. Harriett Baldwin, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for West Worcestershire warned of a Government plan to leave Worcestershire County Council with a massive bill to pay for new social care plans. Analysis has revealed that Gordon Brown’s unfunded plans for free personal care at home could put £26 a year on the average council tax bill, on top of other local pressures. This is due to an estimated £580 million black hole left by the government.

• Senior councillors have warned that Gordon Brown’s plans “are unclear, unfunded and are likely to have a significant impact on existing local services, including possible cuts and rises in council tax”.
• Town hall experts at the Local Government Association have added that “this is clearly a new burden” on councils, while Social Services directors from across the country have asserted that Gordon Brown has “significantly underestimated the true costs involved.”
• On top of the council tax hike, there is also the threat of an additional £20,000 “death tax” by Gordon Brown to pay for new National Care Service proposals.

Harriett Baldwin said: “I frequently meet people who worry about having to sell their homes to pay for long term care. That is why Conservatives will introduce a voluntary Home Protection Scheme to allow people – for a one off £8,000 payment – to make sure they never have to sell their home to pay for residential care. “But Labour’s plans to extend free personal care and to introduce a National Care Service are in chaos. Labour ministers in Whitehall are considering levying a compulsory death tax of up to £20,000 on every person in England, and now it looks like they’ll put another £26 a year on Worcestershire’s council tax. Gordon Brown needs to come clean about who will pay the price for his plans.”