Government changes rules on the proposed social care cap

The government has announced as part of their plans to reform social care in 2023, the financial aid that elderly people will receive from local authorities to assist in covering their care costs will not count towards a new proposed cap on costs. Despite Boris Johnson’s earlier promise that subsidised care costs would be available to those who own between £20,000 and £100,000 in assets.

A few months ago, it was announced that from 2023 the maximum a person in England could be expected to pay towards their care fees in their lifetime would not exceed £86,000. However, it was announced this week that support payments such as benefits would not be included in this personal limit. This means that only payments made personally by an elderly individual would count towards the cap. Once the cap of £86,000 has been reached, it will result in any additional costs for personal care being funded by local authorities.

The result of this is that it would take poorer individuals longer to reach the spending cap of £86,000 and this would mean it will take them longer to be in a position where the remainder of their personal care is funded by the local authorities. Therefore, these plans of reform will give little benefit to those elderly individuals across England who have modest wealth.

Care funding expert Sir Andrew Dilnot has expressed that poorer pensions with total assets below £186,000 would lose out from benefitting from this scheme, compared to those individuals who own property in more affluent areas of England such as the south.

Despite the criticism received, Boris Johnson has expressed that this new government plan is a ‘massive improvement’ compared to the current funding arrangements in England.