Theresa May’s failure to end the “national scandal” of failing social care services is condemned today, with a warning that 400,000 people have been stripped of help.

An immediate £8bn cash injection is needed to rescue the system, a House of Lords committee says – in a report sharply criticising the prime minister for having “ducked the question for too long”.

A ‘green paper’ has been shelved repeatedly – after Ms May was badly damaged by the “dementia tax” row that derailed her 2017 general election campaign – and will not be published until after she leaves No 10.

However, the peers conclude yet another consultation, the meaning of a green paper, would fall far short of what is urgently required anyway.

“They need to publish a white paper, not a green paper, with clear proposals for change now,” said Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, the Conservative chairman of the economic affairs committee.

The report added: “With each delay the level of unmet need in the system increases, the pressure on unpaid carers grows stronger, the supply of care providers diminishes and the train on the care workforce continues. Government action, rather than further consultation, is required.”

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The inquiry found that 1.4 million older people had an unmet care need last year, with public funding £700m lower than in 2010-11, when the Conservatives came to power.

More than 400,000 people have fallen out of eligibility this decade, because the means test has not been increased in line with inflation.

Yet, by 2023-24, NHS funding is due to rise by £20.5bn per year – more than the entire local authority adult social care budget.

“The whole system is riddled with unfairness. Someone with dementia can pay hundreds of thousands of pounds for their care, while someone with cancer receives it for free,” Lord Forsyth said.

“Local authorities are increasingly expected to fund social care themselves, despite differences in local care demands and budgets. The reduction in funding has been greatest in the most deprived areas.”

He added: “The government needs to spend £8bn now to return quality and access in the system to an acceptable standard. Fixing unfairness is more complicated, but the government has ducked the question for too long.”

The committee’s solution is to introduce free personal care for people with critical needs, arguing it would reduce demand for residential care by providing help at home earlier.

This would cost £7bn a year, on top of the £8bn to restore lost services, but “only £2bn more” than the ill-fated dementia tax plan, which was abandoned.

It should be funded “through general taxation”, although critics have argued such a solution would unfairly lumber younger, working-age people with the bill for the retired elderly.