Social Care News

12th February 2013

Calls on Welsh Government to fund social care costs cap

There have been calls for the Welsh Government to bring forward plans to offer a cap on social care costs following UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt's announcement yesterday of plans to cap social care costs at £75,000 in England.

In a statement the charity Age Cymru welcomed the “principle of a cap” and called on the Welsh Government to bring forward similar proposals “without delay”.

It said: "Age Cymru calls on the Welsh Government to examine these proposals and to bring forward similar plans without delay, to provide people in Wales with certainty over care costs.

“Social care has been ignored for far too long and government in Cardiff Bay and Westminster must act to bring older people fairer access to care support when they need it most.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We recognise the current arrangements for paying for social care are outdated and need reform. While Andrew Dilnot’s report relates to England, this is an issue of vital importance for people in Wales and the rest of the UK.

“The Welsh Government has a long-standing commitment to building a new system of paying for social care that is fair, affordable and sustainable in the long term.

“We have already introduced a £50 per week cap on charges for home care.

“Paying for care is a complex issue that has profound consequences for many people. It will be important to understand the detailed implications for the people of Wales of what is being proposed by the UK Government and how they will differ from the recommendations that had been made in the Dilnot report.

“We would need to see the sums in England before doing our own analysis and deciding what the best policy on paying for care in Wales should look like.

“There has been extensive consultation on this issue in Wales over a number of years including a Green Paper. Over the last nine months we have been consulting with key stakeholders in Wales to ascertain what kind of system would command broad public support here and whether such reforms should be built on the Dilnot proposals.

“A report on the outcome of that will be issued with the next few weeks with a ministerial statement on this important issue.”