Care Homes: Insurance Indemnity

Lord Bhatia Excerpts

Wednesday 19th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, the financial stability of the care home sector is, as the noble Baroness rightly pointed out, something that we monitor extremely closely. There will, of course, always been new entrants and new departures from such a rich and varied sector. That is not something to be regretted; it brings innovation and new opportunities to the sector. She is right that the potential increase in insurance payments is something that we need to factor in to the finance. That is why we have brought in the designated settlement support scheme and increased the support from local authorities for social care.

[Lord Bhatia (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, are there any estimates of how many care homes have gone under because of financial difficulties? How many have been closed down?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I do not have the precise number at my fingertips, but I can reassure the noble Lord that the proportion that has gone under in the last year is not dramatically higher than in previous years. We monitor the situation extremely closely. I am aware of the concerns of noble Lords about the financial position of the social care industry and we are taking very careful measures to ensure that we are on top of the financial monitoring situation.