Dilnot to urge £50,000 cap on social care costs for elderly

The Dilnot commission on social care funding is set to recommend that individuals should have to pay no more than £50,000 with the taxpayer picking up the rest.

Weekend newspaper reports in The Observer and the Financial Times also said the government-sponsored inquiry, which publishes its conclusions on 4 July, will recommend a big jump in the amount of assets that people can retain and yet still receive means-tested help.

Currently only individuals with savings of £23,250 or less are entitled to free care at home or in a residential or nursing setting.

The Dilnot commission is expected to recommend a figure closer to £100,000, said the FT. It is understood this will cover just the costs of care, meaning individuals will still have to cover the costs of accommodation. In return the financial services industry will offer insurance products to people. 

Both newspaper reports also floated the prospect of the an increase in public spending of between £2bn to £3bn, which would mirror a call by charities such as Age UK.

However it is believed the reports conclusions are causing friction within the coalition because of the political and financial costs with one report suggesting that chancellor George Osbourne wants to “kick the report into the long grass”.

The commission has already rejected free social care in on the basis that a system in which both state and individuals contribute to the costs of care is more sustainable.

It also looks set to propose the retention of attendance allowance, a move that will prove popular with older people’s charities who vigorously opposed the previous Labour government’s plans to scrap the benefit and roll it into the social care system.

Related stories

Free personal care ruled out by care funding chief

Dilnot commission to urge overhaul of care eligibility frameworks