Increase in care capital limit

SOCIAL Services Minister Rebecca Evans has announced an increase in the amount of capital individuals can hold before they are charged for residential care.

From April older people won’t have to pay for care unless they have assets worth more than £30,000. Currently the limit is £24,000.

Over the course of the current Assembly term, which lasts until 2021, the capital limit will rise incrementally to £50,000.

Raising the limit was one of Welsh Labour’s key pledges in last year’s Assembly election.

Ms Evans said: “Welsh Labour believes that older people who have played fair and paid in all their lives deserve a fairer deal.

“That is why we will double the amount of money that older people can keep before paying for care.

“In Wales we continue to invest in social care and have prioritised it as a sector of national strategic importance.

“We know that the care sector is under pressure, which is why we have provided local authorities with an additional £35m to help them manage those pressures in the coming year.”

Currently one in five people in residential care in Wales are self-financing.