Social Services
(asked on 21st March 2016) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to (a) introduce the appeals system set out in Section 72 of the Care Act 2014 and (b) revise the current care capital limits.
The Department published an Impact Assessment of the cap on care costs system alongside a consultation on draft regulations and guidance in February 2015. This estimated that the numbers of people who would receive financial support as a result of the introduction of the cap and extensions to the means test from 2016 to 2026 would have been as follows:
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 |
Additional people supported | 23,000 | 24,000 | 28,000 | 38,000 | 53,000 | 64,000 | 71,000 | 74,000 | 78,000 | 81,000 |
Number reaching the cap | 0 | 0 | 19,000 | 37,000 | 74,000 | 101,000 | 115,000 | 121,000 | 128,000 | 132,000 |
The Government remains committed to the implementation of the cap on care costs in 2020. This will offer financial protection and peace of mind to people who need care and support. In the meantime, means-tested financial support remains available for those who cannot afford to pay for care to meet their eligible needs.
The capital limits, which determine how much capital a person may hold whilst receiving means-tested financial support towards their social care, will remain at their current levels for the financial year 2016/17.
The Department plans to introduce the appeals system for adult social care in April 2020, alongside of the implementation of the cap on care costs.
Due to concerns around the potential impact, Ministers also decided to delay the implementation of Section 18(3) of the Care Act 2014 until 2020 in line with the timetable for implementing funding reform. This will allow the Department enough time to research the likely impact of these reforms on the market and develop effective mitigations.
Information on the number of delayed transfers of care is published by NHS England on a monthly basis and is available at the following link:
- see the delayed days by responsible organisation spreadsheet.
We do not have centrally held figures regarding the numbers of people who will enter the social care system in future, any impact that the cap on care costs might have on delayed transfers of care, or the numbers of people who might have asked local authorities to arrange their care under s18(3) of the Care Act 2014.