Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the disparity in charges for places in care homes between full payers and those supported by local authorities.

No such estimate has been made. It is for local authorities to plan care provision based on the needs of their local populations. Nationally, the number of care home beds has been stable at around 460,000 beds in England since 2010.

In their 2015 published projections which relate to older people using social care (65+) only, the Personal Social Services Research Unit project increases in publically and privately funded care home residents of 49% and 110% respectively between 2015 and 2035.

Social care continues to be a priority for this Government. This is why local authorities in England will receive an additional £2 billion for social care over the next three years, with £1 billion provided in 2017-18 so that councils can fund more packages of care immediately. One of the three key purposes of the additional funding is to assist councils in stabilising the local provider market.

The Care Act 2014 placed a duty on local authorities in England to promote a diverse, sustainable, high quality market of care and support providers for people in their local area. Local authorities are expected to understand and articulate likely future demand for services in their area, engage with care providers to understand the likely supply of services, provide signals to the market of their intent, and as needed, intervene in the market to stimulate change and innovation in providers to better meet the needs of people and communities.

Prices for care home places are agreed between the provider, the individuals and their families who are self-funding their own care. Prices therefore vary across the country. Central Government has no say in these individual negotiations. The Department continues to support local authorities with their new Care Act duties to ensure their local market remains effective to meet people’s care needs regardless of how services are funded.

The Competition and Markets Authority has an ongoing market study into the residential care market. A financial analysis paper, dated 11 September 2017, contains recent analysis of the charges in place in care homes for self-funders and those supported by a local authority. A copy of Care homes market study is attached.

The full market study is due to be published at the end of November, following which the Government will issue a formal response.