The introduction of the cap on care costs, part of a reform of adult social care promised by both Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, is to be delayed until October 2024, according to a report in The Times, as part of measures by the chancellor Jeremy Hunt to reduce spending.
According to The Times report, Hunt told his MPs on Monday that decisions on social care “will be taken through the prism of what matters most to the people who need help the most” and refused to guarantee existing policies.
The report adds that Hunt is said to want a year delay until October 2024. However, back in 2015 when Health Secretary he killed off a similar policy.
The care cap reforms, announced back in 2021 by Boris Johnson, would limit the lifetime sum people have to pay at £86,000 and introduce a more generous means test so those with assets of less than £100,000 receive help sooner. The reforms mean considerably more means-testing would have to take place which would require more staff.
The delay has been welcomed by Council leaders, however they warned that the funding allocated to the reform should be retained by authorities to plough into adult services. The funding allocated to implementation of the reforms by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) was £771m in 2023-24.
Full story in The Lowdown, 24 October 2022