Half a plan for social care

The delayed white paper on social care will be published today, but don’t expect it to clarify much about how pensioners can cover their care costs.

The document itself will announce loans administered by councils offering nominal interest rates to prevent elderly people having to sell their homes to cover the cost of their care. That loan would be paid back once that person dies and the house is sold.

But Labour’s Andy Burnham was out and about this morning pointing out that the white paper ‘is half a plan’. He’s right: the most important part of the reforms is missing. The paper will reiterate ministers’ support for a cap on the amount someone must contribute towards their care costs themselves, but will not specify the size of that cap, or any other details. The Dilnot Commission had recommended a lifetime cap of £35,000, but the rumour is that the Treasury was spooked by the £1.7bn