(Alliance News) - Several Conservative MPs are "quite sceptical" that social care will get the share it needs of a GBP12 billion tax hike, a former minister has warned.
Health minister Gillian Keegan said the NHS will receive the majority of money raised by the health and social care levy over the first three years in a bid to cut waiting lists.
Talks will take place with the Treasury to then decide how the money is split between the NHS and social care, with the latter needing an "increasing share", the minister added.
But senior Conservatives Mark Harper and Robert Jenrick were among those to press the need for the national insurance increase to help social care.
Concerns were also raised that health ministers have no idea what impact the new funding will have on hospital waiting times in 2022, 2023 and 2024 after frontbencher Edward Argar, in response to a written parliamentary question, said: "No formal assessment has been made."
As MPs considered a statement on reforms to social care, former chief whip Harper told the Commons: "Many of us on this side of the House found it quite hard to vote for a GBP12 billion a year tax increase, but what is really important is that money is used effectively."
Harper suggested a multi-year local government settlement should be published to show "a big share of that funding moving from the NHS to social care" to aid planning and to ensure the NHS can "accept that it isn't going to keep that money forever once it has dealt with the backlogs".
He added: "Many of us are quite sceptical about that and I think the more transparency there is, the easier the minister's job will be to get those resources into the social care sector."
Keegan, in her reply, said: "The longer you can have some understanding of the settlement for funding the better, and I'm sure my colleagues working on that will have heard his question."
Tory former communities secretary Jenrick also told the session: "One of the flaws with the increase in national insurance is only 15% of the additional revenue is going to flow through to local authorities to improve the quantity and quality of care.
"The remainder will go to protecting relatively asset-rich families' inheritances and the very important task of tackling backlogs in the NHS, and so there are many councils listening to the announcement today very concerned about how they're going to tackle the demographic changes they're facing in the years ahead.
"What would she have to say to them, and in the more substantial white paper to follow what more can she say about reforming the system to integrate care – which might enable the efficiencies to help those local authorities to face the future?"
Keegan said she could not say much more on the latter point, with the white paper expected "early next year".
She added: "The levy raises about GBP12 billion a year, more or less. For the three-year period the majority of that is going towards catching up with electives for our NHS and of course we've had many people, six million people who are in urgent need of that care, and that's the right thing to do.
"However, we do know that we will need an increasing share of that fund as we go beyond this three-year period.
"Many of the reforms in this white paper, many of the things we're going to be working on, will very much help inform those discussions with the Treasury."
Labour MP Helen Hayes, of Dulwich & West Norwood, said the "social care crisis has got worse" since Boris Johnson came to power in 2019.
She said: "Right now, more than 100,000 vacancies exist in adult social care, care homes are refusing new admissions because of staff shortages, providers are haemorrhaging staff to better paid roles in hospitality, retail and distribution.
"The sector is on its knees as we head into the harshest winter in living memory."
Labour former minister Derek Twigg later raised a point of order about Argar's response to his written question on the impact of the levy on hospital waiting times.
He said: "Surely, given the House has voted for additional money to be allocated to the NHS, either the prime minister or Secretary of State should come to this House and explain why the government has not a clue as to how this additional money will affect waiting times."
source: PA
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