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Tory ministers today confirmed the party's social care manifesto policy as they admitted a final plan is being kicked down the road - again.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced £1bn a year for five years to tackle a crisis in the nation's care homes.

But he admitted the Tories will not announce a full long-term reform in this week's election manifesto.

Instead the party will pledge "urgent" work "to find a cross-party consensus" with MPs - after the election is finished.

And there will only be one red line, he said - that no one will have to sell their home to pay for their own care.

(Image: Getty Images)

The policy - which accepts long-time calls from social care campaigners - seems to be bid to avoid disastrous 'dementia tax' headlines that plagued Theresa May's 2017 election.

But it means there is yet another delay after years of dither and in-fighting.

Currently people must fund their own care if they deplete all but £23,350 of their life savings, including the value of their home.

Theresa May tried to solve the issue in 2017 by quadruple the assets someone is left with after emptying their bank account to pay for care, to £100,000 in total.

But she would have also dragged hundreds of thousands more people into having to pay for their own care, if they received it at home.

Under huge pressure over the "dementia tax", she U-turned by then offering a cap on the total amount people would pay.

(Image: Getty)

But the policy was then dumped altogether and she repeatedly delayed plans for a ‘green paper’.

During the Tory leadership contest, Boris Johnson said he had a reform plan ready to go once he arrived in office.

Yet his Queen's Speech also did not give a timescale or any details for "substantive proposals" to take effect.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock today wrote in the Daily Mail that there will be one red line.

"Without exception, that it must guarantee that no one needing care will have to sell their home to pay for it," he said.

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But despite announcing £1bn a year to plug gaps in the system, long-term plans will not be spelt out.

"Rather than play politics with social care, the second point of our [three-point] plan will be to urgently work across parliament to find a cross-party consensus," Mr Hancock said.

"This process will begin as soon as the next parliament is established, and we will bring forward an answer that solves the problem, commands the widest possible support and stands the test of time.

"We will consider a range of options, but we will have one red line: We will protect the family home."

The Tory government previously announced £1.5bn cash injection for social care.

But that cash was dismissed by experts as a "short term sticking plaster" and £500m of it has to be raised by councils through a 2% rise in the council tax precept.

Labour has pledged a National Care Service and free personal care if Jeremy Corbyn gets into Downing Street.

Labour's Angela Rayner refused to tell the BBC if the party would work with a Tory government on a long-term plan.

Instead she replied: "The Conservatives can work with us when we have a Labour government on December 13."