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Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 April 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 29 April 2019 (named day). It was answered by Caroline Dinenage (Conservative) on Monday, 29 April 2019 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Care Homes: Fees and Charges

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the cost of residential care for the elderly.

Answer

The Government has given councils access to around £10 billion more dedicated funding for social care from 2017/18 to 2019/20. The 2018 Autumn Budget also announced that a further £410 million is available in 2019/20 to improve social care for older people, people with disabilities and children.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to shape their local markets to ensure that they are sustainable, diverse and offer high quality care and support. Councils have statutory duties to meet the social care needs of the elderly, disabled and vulnerable people in their area.

This Government is also committed to ensuring that the social care system is sustainable in the longer term, which is why we will be publishing a Green Paper at the earliest opportunity, setting out our proposals for reform. This will include ideas for including an element of risk pooling in the system, to protect people from the highest costs and improve consumer choice and protection.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
246925
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Care homes Fees and charges
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk