Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that social care needs are met (a) without people losing their family principal private residence when paying for dementia care and (b) when adjusting or supplementing Carer’s Allowance; and what steps he is taking to tackle the disparity between the fees charged by (i) private and (ii) local authority owned care homes.

We are committed to bringing forward a plan for social care this year to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and to find long term solutions for one of the biggest challenges we face as a society.

Carer’s Allowance is a weekly benefit and is not means-tested or contribution-based. This allowance provides a measure of financial support to people aged 16 years old or over, caring for a disabled person in receipt of a qualifying benefit for more than 35 hours a week, provided the carer is not in gainful employment.