Labour accused of ‘deprioritising’ social care after breaking pledge to bring in cap on costs

He said: “I’ve wanted to give the system certainty this side of the election of knowing we’re not planning to come in and unpick that and scrap that.”

The cap, which was cross party support, would have put in place a limit of £86,000 of social care fees over the course of someone’s lifetime.

Councils have warned they would not be able to afford this, although without it, industry experts fear people could have to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Despite Mr Streeting’s promise, after less than a month in power the new Labour government has already indefinitely delayed the cap, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves blaming a £22 billion black hole in public finances.

Social Care Minister Stephen Kinnock also axed funding which had been earmarked for social care workforce training.

Mike Padgham, who runs Saint Cecilia’s Care Group in Scarborough, was left dejected about the U-turns: “I had trusted a new Labour government was going to be different - it is disappointing that they go and scrap their pledges.

“It just brings to mind trust in politicians - they say one thing before the election and do another thing after.”

Labour has pledged to bring in a National Care Service within this Parliament and a fair pay deal for care workers, although has given minimal detail on either.

Mr Padgham, who is also chair of the Independent Care Group, said that he would like to see “what their big bold plan is”.

“They moved quickly to scrap the Rwanda plan, they are moving quickly on prisons - why can’t they move quicker on social care,” he said.

“They need to wake up to the fact that this will help them and it will help the country.

“Social care is not a drain, it can have a positive contribution to growth.

“They suggested a Royal Commission, they suggested cross-party talks, but we’ve already got an agreement of what needs to be done.

“What’s missing is actually doing something - all we seem to do is talk and go round and round in circles, meanwhile it’s getting worse, more people are needing care, the system is on its knees.”

Nina Hemmings, a researcher at the health think tank Nuffield Trust, described the government’s decisions as “two significant blows to the social care sector”.

She said: “These look like yet more troubling decisions to deprioritise social care in order to plug gaps in health funding. The danger now is that social care remains in the long grass.

“The new government states that it is committed to the social care workforce and long-term plans for reform.

“We now need to see concrete action to reassure that these promises are not simply rhetoric. Sector reform needs to move from being tomorrow’s aspiration to being today’s priority.”

While Unison’s head of social care Gavin Edwards said: “The government has promised to resolve the pay crisis in social care. Unison wants this to become a reality with a fair pay agreement drawn up with employers as a matter of urgency.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This government is being honest about the appalling economic circumstances we inherited and is being realistic about charging reforms.

“Preparations have not been made, the reforms have not been funded, and social care providers say it will be impossible to deliver them by October 2025.

“We are committed to tackling the significant challenges facing social care and to build a National Care Service. We are working on the best way to take these forward.”