Social Services: Older People
Health
Hazel Blears (Salford and Eccles, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of funding for adults no longer able to fund their own social care in each of the last five years.
Paul Burstow (Minister of State (Care Services), Health; Sutton and Cheam, Liberal Democrat)
In the current social care system, people who can afford to pay are required to fund their own social care out of their income and assets. In some cases, people need long-term social care, and some of them will, over time, use up their assets to the point that they qualify for state support to fund their own care. At this point, the local authority will provide them with support to pay for care.
We do not centrally hold information on how many people spend down their assets and are subsequently supported by the state, nor do we know the total cost of supporting these people.