The announcement in the Budget that the implementation of the cap on social care costs will be moved forward to 2016 at a rate of £72,000 came as little surprise as the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne had pre-announced this in the media at the weekend.
Although the cap has only been brought forward by a year, this will still present a challenge to local authorities who will have to put in place systems to meet the demand and for policy makers who will have to explain to the public how the new system will work and what they will need to do to prepare.
It is essential that the public are educated about what is included in the cap and what is not. At this stage, many do not realise the cap will only apply to the "personal social care" element, which for those in residential nursing care may be around a third of all residential care costs, and it will be subject to both eligibility criteria and the prevailing local authority rate.
The cap will not cover general living expenses (which Andrew Dilnot proposed at between £8,000 to £10,000 a year), or any costs above the rate paid for by their local authority.
As part of their report, the Joint Committee on the draft Care and Support Bill recently recommended that regulated financial advice for self-funders is included in the Bill. It is essential that this happens so that people entering care can make better informed choices about how to pay for their care needs. The introduction of a cap whereby all self-funders must go through their local authority in order to get their care account running provides an excellent opportunity to refer them to regulated financial advice.
The Chancellor's Budget has shown that the Government is committed to reforming the social care system in England and that it is keen to implement the proposals as soon as possible. However, it is vital that people remember that the cap will not come in to effect until 2016 and it will not be retroactive. It is therefore essential that people who are going into care now or the near future get regulated financial advice so that they can make informed choices to help pay for their care.
Chris Horlick is managing director of care at Partnership
