Personal Care at Home Bill

Question

Asked by

Lord Warner
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 8 December (WA 115–16), why their estimate of the year-to-year increase in the cost of the Personal Care at Home Bill makes no provision for an increase in demand; whether that takes account of evidence from the Scottish Government suggesting that demand increases when personal care at home is made free; and whether the forecast price increases of two per cent per year takes account of that evidence's suggestion that costs rise at a higher rate. [HL879]

Baroness Thornton
Estimates of the cost of extending free personal care at home to all those with the highest needs, as presented in the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, incorporate three specific demand effects.

First, the number of older people who would otherwise have entered residential care, but who choose instead to receive free personal care at home, has been estimated. Secondly, older people whose needs would otherwise be classed as critical under Fair Access to Care Services were it not for their receipt of informal care may in future decide to withdraw from their informal care in order to qualify for free personal care. An estimate of the number of such individuals has been included in the estimated costs. Thirdly, the Personal Social Services Research Unit’s estimate of the number of older people who would in future qualify for free personal care at home, but who currently neither receive free personal care nor make a means-tested contribution, includes those with unmet need. It is therefore not just an estimate of the number of older people who pay for all of their own care now; it also includes those who are not fully meeting their needs privately.

The Scottish experience of extending free personal care differs in respect of coverage, in that it is not limited to those with the highest needs and it includes people in residential care. In addition, the relative prices of residential and home care, eligibility criteria and preferences may also differ. For these reasons, it was not considered appropriate to extrapolate changes in demand for personal care in Scotland to the English context.

Asked by

Lord Warner
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether local authorities may use the £550 million saving that the Pre-Budget Report required them to make by 2012–13 to meet their share of the costs of implementing the Personal Care at Home Bill. [HL881]

Baroness Thornton
The Pre-Budget Report announced that councils will make £250 million efficiency savings by 2012-13 from reducing the significant variations in the proportion of funding that councils spend on residential care provision through supporting more people to live for longer in their own homes.

These efficiency savings will be used to help meet the ever-growing pressure on budgets from demographic changes and to support more people to live in their homes through the offer of free personal care for those with the greatest need. These savings may be used alongside the funding made available by the department to deliver the proposals of the Personal Care at Home Bill.

Asked by

Lord Warner
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether assessments made by a local authority under the Personal Care at Home Bill will be made available to another authority should a person move area. [HL882]

Baroness Thornton
The proposals for regulations and guidance under the Personal Care at Home Bill are being consulted upon. The department plans to develop a national assessment tool for all authorities to use to ensure a consistent application of the eligibility criteria for free personal care at home. Comments on this, along with the potential portability of any assessments is a matter for the consultation, Personal Care at Home: a consultation on proposals for regulations and guidance.

The consultation document has been placed in the Library and on the department’s website at:

www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_109139.