Latest News

Monday 4 July 2011

Commission on Funding of Care and Support presents report to the Government

The Commission on Funding of Care and Support has presented its findings to the Government in its report Fairer Care Funding, published on 4th July 2011.

The independent commission, set up by the Government last July, was asked to recommend a fair and sustainable funding system for adult social care in England.

Among the recommendations in the report are:

  • Individuals’ lifetime contributions towards their social care costs – which are currently potentially unlimited – should be capped. After the cap is reached, individuals would be eligible for full state support. This cap should be between £25,000 and £50,000. We consider that £35,000 is the most appropriate and fair figure;
  • The means-tested threshold, above which people are liable for their full care costs, should be increased from £23,250 to £100,000;
  • National eligibility criteria and portable assessments should be introduced to ensure greater consistency; and
  • All those who enter adulthood with a care and support need should be eligible for free state support immediately rather than being subjected to a means test.

The Commission estimates that its proposals – based on a cap of £35,000 – would cost the State around £1.7billion.

Andrew Dilnot, chair of the Commission, said:
 
“The issue of funding for adult social care has been ignored for too long. We should be celebrating the fact we are living longer and that younger people with disabilities are leading more independent lives than ever before. But instead we talk about the ‘burden of ageing’ and individuals are living in fear, worrying about meeting their care costs.
 
“The current system is confusing, unfair and unsustainable. People can’t protect themselves against the risk of very high care costs and risk losing all their assets, including their house. This problem will only get worse if left as it is, with the most vulnerable in our society being the ones to suffer.
 
“Under our proposed system everybody who gets free support from the state now will continue to do so and everybody else would be better off. Putting a limit on the maximum lifetime costs people may face will allow them to plan ahead for how they wish to meet these costs. By protecting a larger amount of people’s assets they need no longer fear losing everything.”
 
The recommendations are given in full in the Commission’s report Fairer Care Funding. The report is also available in an easy read version and pamphlet which gives a summary of the main recommendations.
 
To accompany the report there are two additional published volumes – Volume II Evidence and Analysis, and Volume III Supporting Documents.

A number of documents have been produced as part of this report including:

Letter to the Chancellor and Secretary of State
Fairer Care Funding Report
Fairer Care Funding Pamphlet
Volume II Evidence and Analysis
Volume III Supporting Documents
Presentation of report recommendations.

Would you like to be notified when a news article is added to choosemycare.com? If so, please complete your details below:

 First Name*

Last Name*

Email Address*