The Government has announced rule changes on the cap on social care costs. Full details can be found here.
Commenting on the news, CEO of the Homecare Association, Dr Jane Townson said:
“The Homecare Association has long argued for reform of the social care system to ensure: fairness; clarity of responsibility between State and citizen for paying for care; accessibility of care for all who need it; greater focus on improving outcomes; conditions which encourage innovation; and fair reward of the workforce, to enable us to meet current and future population needs.
After the initial announcement in September 2021, we were disappointed that the proposed plans addressed only asset protection and not the wider reform required. We were, however, pleased that the government appeared willing to address issues of fairness and clarity by introducing a cap and changing thresholds for the means test. The document published yesterday suggests that the approach to asset protection will not be as fair as possible. Under the proposals, those with lower levels of wealth appear to have lower protection of their assets than those with greater wealth.
We call on the government to walk the talk on “levelling up” and ensure fairness for all. We also want to see meaningful action on the wider reform agenda, which needs to be adequately funded.”
