A senior communal welfare chief has accused the government of “kicking the issue of elderly care into the long grass” after a new white paper delayed a decision on a cap on care costs.
Economist Andrew Dilnot led a commission into elderly care, which recommended capping lifetime costs for care at £35,000. But ministers said they needed time to consider a higher cap, or a fee to allow families into the “capped” system. A final decision on a cap will be taken at the next spending review in 2014.
Nightingale Hammerson chief executive Leon Smith claimed the government had not addressed the key issues. “This is a continuation of the pattern that we’ve seen from successive governments.
“It has taken them a year and they are still making no commitment whatsoever. They claim it will be reviewed in 2014, but what guarantee do we have that that will happen?”
