Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the fairness of the current means tested social care system for people with dementia in cases where individuals are required to sell their homes or exhaust lifetime savings to fund care.

The adult social care system is means tested and provides funded support for those with the least financial means. While the Department sets the minimum thresholds for accessing local authority support, local authorities have the discretion to set more generous thresholds if they choose.

Individuals are not required to sell their home to pay for care if they, their spouse, or another eligible relative still lives there, as the property is disregarded in the financial assessment. In cases where a person’s property is included in the financial assessment, the universal deferred payment agreement (DPA) scheme means that the person should not be forced to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for their care. By entering into a DPA, a person can defer paying the costs of their care and support in a care home until a later date.

The Government has launched an Independent Commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will deliver recommendations for the transformation of adult social care, addressing demographic change, how services should be organised to deliver this, and how to best create a fair and affordable adult social care system.