Now middle class pay even more to prop up social care

MIDDLE-CLASS families who pay for care homes are increasingly subsidising those who can’t afford to pay their own fees, an official analysis indicated yesterday.

The report found that fees paid privately rose by more than 18 per cent over five years – a third more than the increase in the cost to taxpayers of state-funded care.

At the same time, the report by the Office for National Statistics found that the quality of care is falling.

It comes as ministers prepare to launch reforms of the social care system promised in the Tory election campaign – including a pledge that no-one will have to sell their house to pay for a care home place.

The Daily Mail is campaigning for an urgent solution to the social care crisis – particularly for the thousands of people with dementia who bear the brunt of the scandal.

Care home ‘ self- funders’ have to pay their own bills – typically around £750 a week or more in England – if they have savings or property worth more than £23,250.

When their savings run out, they must in many cases sell their home to meet the bills.

People who have few savings and no property to sell have their bills paid for them by local councils.

But social services departments, which pay for around 137,000 care home places in England, use their bulk-buying powers to force down the prices they pay to a typical level of £550 a week.

The difference leaves homeowners who need a care home place subsidising fellow residents with no savings or property to the tune of thousands of pounds a year.

Yesterday’s report said: ‘Non-government financing of long-term care increased by 18.2 per cent between 2013 and 2017, from £15.7billion to £18.5billion, relative to public expenditure which increased by 12.6 per cent, from £26.3billion to £29.7billion.’

The report added that privately-owned providers of residential and nursing care ‘have experienced increased financial pressures, partly because of local authority fees being below full economic cost.

‘One result of this has been an increase in the fees independent sector providers charge to self-funding clients.’

The report added that efficiency and quality in the care system has been falling.

The ONS said it although it could not provide firm evidence that self-funding middle-class families are increasingly subsidising the care system, it did acknowledge the trend.

It said: ‘While these figures suggest that an increase in non-government funding of services may be meeting some of the growing need for care, we cannot confirm that nongovernment funding or unpaid sources account for the apparent difference in growth between publicly funded adult social care output and care needs.’

A study by the Office for Statistics Regulation, the statistics watchdog, said last month that there are no figures to show how much people are paying for care homes or care, and none on how many have to sell their homes.

It said there ‘are gaps in understanding of the scale of household expenditure on privately funded care.’

‘Difference in growth’