Will care funding plans protect the homes and savings of adults with care needs?

Norman Lamb, Care and Support Minister

Bernard Walker, College of Social Work

YES

The care funding reforms announced in July by Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb are designed to give peace of mind to adults with savings less than £118,000.

Mr Lamb explains: “These reforms bring reassurance to millions of people by ending the existing unfair system so no one need face unlimited care costs or the prospect of selling their home in their lifetime.

“Now we are unveiling proposals for how the new system will operate and what it can do to help people plan and prepare for future care costs – and over the next three months we’ll be seeking people’s views on making it a reality.

“No one wants to face an unknown future. This overhaul of the way care is paid for gives people the certainty and peace of mind we all deserve.”

ADASS president Sandy Keene was among those to welcome the announcement, hoping to see a long-term impact, saying: “We are committed to working in partnership with the Department of Health and LGA on a joint programme to ensure successful and sustainable delivery of these reforms.

“The call for a greater clarity and better information is crucial, as is the continuing search with the insurance industry to find financial products to support planning for old age.

“At a time of great financial challenge in local government, we simply can’t afford to miscalculate the costs of these moves. The proposals do not mean an additional money will be coming into social care, but they do mean that social services departments will be placed to offer security and peace of mind to a greater number of people.”

NO

Bernard Walker, chair of the College of Social Work's adult faculty expressed deep concerns that the funding may prove ineffective, saying: “We strongly question whether local authorities will be able to cope with the anticipated half-a-million extra people coming forward for assessment. It is a concern for all of us that only an estimated one in eight people will be eligible for funding under the cap. But everyone will need to have their eligible care costs assessed as progress towards their care cap is monitored, which is a huge undertaking for social workers and other staff involved in carrying out assessments.

“The Government’s earmarked £335m for local authorities to implement the new assessment regime is unlikely to be enough to meet the real cost, which will lead to a further squeeze on funding across existing care services.

“We are calling for realistic funding for councils to be provided as soon as possible so that they can ensure they have the skills, expertise and capacity in place to meet this monumental change to the way care is provided for older people after 2016.”

Though welcoming the announcement, Martin Green of ECCA also echoed some of these concerns in relation to care homes, saying: “We must be clear that the rate at which the cap is reached will be determined by what the council would normally pay towards care. In many parts of the country, this is currently an inadequate amount which means people now, and in the future, will need to top up the council amount unless councils start to take a more realistic approach to paying fees that meet evidenced care home costs.”