Residential care self-funders will not be able to ask their council to arrange care for them at the lower local authority rate until April 2025, minister Gillian Keegan has announced.
Under previous Government plans, the cohort were expected to be able to approach their local authority 18 months earlier - from October 2023.
The County Councils’ Network had called for more funding or for a delay until ‘at least 2025’ amid concerns Government had ‘seriously underestimated’ the costs of its reforms.
Ms Keegan said people who fund their own care, who tend to pay up to 40% more on average than those eligible for state support, would now only be able to ask their local authority to meet their needs from April 2025.
Under the new policy, only people entering care after October 2023 will be able to ask councils to arrange care on their behalf before April 2025.
To continue reading please visit The MJ (£).
