The Conservatives are facing claims of a U-turn over their plan to reform the way social care is funded after Theresa May said the government would consult on the maximum amount anyone should have to pay.

The party has been accused of being ready to introduce a “dementia tax” after unveiling plans that will mean the level of assets anyone can have before paying for residential care would increase to £100,000 from £23,000.

However, the reforms would mean that for the first time, calculations of how much would have to be paid by elderly people receiving care in their own homes would take into account the value of the home.

The Prime Minister tried to head off criticism of the reforms by saying there would, after all, be a consultation on the maximum anyone would pay.

That came just a day after the Ashford Conservative candidate Damian Green had ruled out any U-turn on the policy.

In an appearance on the BBC Andrew Marr show, Mr Green was repeatedly pressed on the impact of the reforms and asked to account for how an average pensioner in his own constituency could end up paying twice as much for care than it would under the party’s previous policy.

Asked if the party might look again at the policy, Mr Green said: “No. What we said in the manifesto - to put that ‘no’ in context - is that we have set out this policy, which we are not going to look at again; there will be a green paper covering both social care and health coming out in the summer.”

“We all know that the long-term solution to the social care crisis is better integration of the NHS and social care... this is the first step along that road.”

However, Mrs May said there would be consultation over what should be the maximum anyone should have to pay - a cap - something the party had previously ruled out.

She insisted no-one would have to sell their home to pay for care while they were alive and people would still have “something to pass on to” their family after their death.

“We will make sure there’s an absolute limit on what people need to pay,” Mrs May said, adding that “nothing had changed” and “the basic principles” set out in the manifesto remained in place.

The party’s campaign has been dominated by the issue of its plans for a shake-up which include cutting winter fuel allowance and ending the triple lock on pensions.