Elderly paying £5,700 a year for social care

ELDERLY and disabled people are paying around £5,700 a year for social care provided by local councils, Labour has said.

Research by the party suggests more than half of those eligible for councilfunded care, such as care home costs or the cost of domiciliary help for tasks like dressing and washing, are having to pay for it from their savings or benefits. The bill amounts to roughly £1.7 billion a year, according to analysis of Freedom of Information responses from 99 local authorities. Under the Care Act, anyone with assets above £14,250 is liable to pay the full cost of social care requested from their local council.

Jeremy Corbyn has promised to roll out free personal care for all people over 65, insisting no one would have to sell their home to pay for care. However, this would not include the costs of staying in care homes. The party’s manifesto stated that elderly people could be forced to pay up to £100,000 of these costs before the government steps in.

The Health Foundation think tank calculates that restoring access to 2010/11 levels would require an extra £12.2billion compared with what it estimates councils will get in 2023/24.