The Government has announced that five local authorities in England will implement a new adult social care charging reform system which caps the cost of care.
The five councils – Wolverhampton, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Newham, North Yorkshire – will put the charging reform plans in place in January 2023 ahead of a national rollout in October next year.
This includes a new lifetime cap of £86,000 on the amount anyone in England will need to spend on their personal care, alongside means testing for local authority financial support.
From October 2023 no-one starting to receive care will pay more than £86,000 over their lifetime, and no-one with assets of less than £20,000 will have to make any contribution from their savings or housing wealth – up from £14,250.
Anyone with assets between £20,000 and £100,000 will be eligible for some means-tested support with the upper limit more than four times the current limit.
The five councils trialling the reform will shape the Government’s approach to implementation by allowing the Department of Health and Social Care to test key aspects of the reforms.
