Cap on Lifetime Contributions on Social Care Costs

Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about changes to the cap on lifetime contributions to social care costs.

This amendment, made by Ministers as part of the Health and Care Bill, excludes means-tested council support payments from the lifetime limit on costs, meaning only payments people make from their own pocket will count towards the cap.

Since the announcement, evidence from health charities and wider stakeholders - including Age UK, the King’s Fund and others – demonstrates that this change will leave older people and working-age disabled adults with low levels of wealth exposed to the same care costs as the very wealthiest in society.

I voted against the Government’s amendment. It will do nothing to fix the immediate crisis in social care and it leaves the poorest pensioners and disabled adults spending a greater proportion of their income on care, forcing many to sell their homes.

While my Opposition colleagues in the House of Lords have repeatedly secured amendments to the Health and Care Bill to remove this unfair cap, Ministers overturned this decision in the Commons and are likely to do so again as the Bill progresses.

Alzheimer’s Society research shows that, without means-tested local authority funding counting towards the cap, only 21% of people with dementia will reach it. The Health Foundation describes this new charging basis as “poorly conceived and a step in the wrong direction”, taking protection away from poorer homeowners and working-age adults with care needs.

More widely, I am disappointed that Ministers rejected amendments to the Bill proposing a zero charge on disabled people between the ages of 18 and 40. A fair cap and charging system must provide essential support to older adults and working age disabled adults, many of whom have lifelong conditions and who have to draw on social care support for their daily needs.

I urge Ministers to look closely at the evidence and think again. After years of cuts to local government and £8 billion lost from adult social care, they have legislated for tax rises to pay for reforms. But this will hit working people hardest at a time when the cost of living continues to rise. And in my view, the proposals will do nothing to improve the quality or provision of social care.

I support a long-term plan that will put social care on an equal footing with the NHS, transform access and ensure every older and disabled person who needs care and support gets it when and where they need it, improving their lives and delivering better value for taxpayers’ money.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this issue.

Peter Dowd MP