Social Care Funding

Lord Pearson of Rannoch Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I absolutely agree with the noble Baroness on how important this is. It is quite complex to explain the whole system in words. The system will depend on the operation of a sliding scale which, by its nature, is difficult to describe other than pictorially. Nevertheless, the basics of the rules of these funding arrangements are straightforward and can be described. They are, as the Statement described, two essential elements, being the maximum level that people have to pay for their care—which we are setting at £61,000 in 2010 prices; £75,000 in 2017—and the means test, which is £100,000.

Of course, there are nuances around that, such as around couples and how the system will work for them. That is a question that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, asked me which I did not answer. At present, a couple could potentially face two sets of unlimited care costs. By protecting them from these costs, the reforms offer them significant benefits which need to be spelt out. In most circumstances, even if a couple both had care costs at £75,000, the level of the cap, they would contribute less than this because housing assets do not count towards the means test if one of the partners remains resident in the home. All those sorts of things need to be made clear. We will do our very best to work with others to ensure that these messages have not only the greatest clarity but the greatest coverage.

[Lord Pearson of Rannoch]

My Lords, I do not want to make a European point so much as to ask the Government whether they have not got their spending priorities tragically wrong. In our previous debate, I asked the noble Lord the Leader of the House how he could justify sending £11 billion in net cash annually to Brussels to be filtered away. Here we are, with this debate on the Dilnot commission, and, from the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, we have made a step forward. However, clearly this is not adequate to look after the needs of our old and infirm for many years.

How can the Government throw away £11 billion with one hand and then say that we cannot afford more than £1 billion by the end of the next Parliament to look after our old and infirm? Are we a civilised society?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I hope that we are a civilised society. While I understand the noble Lord’s point of view on the European Union, the fact is that if we are fully paid-up members of the European Union we have legal obligations to contribute to the Community budget. That is a given.

However, like any Government, we need to look at the totality of government commitments in the round. We have decided that, against competing priorities, this is a very high priority. That is why we have brought forward these proposals.