The Funding of Adult Social Care

The funding of adult social care is a problem that governments have battled with for years. Who ought to pay, and what should they pay for?

In a country where medical treatment is free at the point of use, is it logical to deny care to people who are simply old? Equally, is it fair for the general taxpayer to fund living costs that people can afford for themselves?

Currently, adult social care costs the state nearly £30 billion, and there is an addition of self-funding amounting to over £9 billion. This amount has been rising steadily so that, according to the King's Fund report of March 2024, real expenditure grew by 10.5% from 2010-11 to 2022-3, a trend that looks set to continue because of demographic factors and rising employment costs.

This is the second highest area of expenditure for councils after education and has led to a significant set of increases in Council Tax to pay for it in recent years.

At the moment, individuals requiring social care pay for themselves until their savings have fallen below £23,250. Boris Johnson proposed changing this, so that no one would ever pay more than £86,000 for care, however long it went on for or costly it became.

This government has abandoned this proposal, and instead called for a further three year review. This means that the current system will last for most of this Parliament.

Particularly scandalously, this will perpetuate the outrage whereby self-funders pay 41% more in care homes and £3 an hour extra for home care than publicly funded patients. This results in the means test hitting twice, as it requires both a cash payment and a higher price. No wonder people with savings feel hard done by.