Government pushes back social care cost cap by four years

The move comes amid warnings the care system is 'critically under-funded'. Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Plans to introduce a cap on social care costs have been pushed back for four years amid fears councils would not have enough money to fund it.

The £72,000 limit on bills for residential care was due to be introduced in April next year, and was intended to prevent people from huge costs and having to sell their family homes.

However, the government announced today that it will now be pushed back until 2020 after "genuine concerns" were raised.

Earlier this month the Local Government Association (LGA) wrote to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt urging him to delay the measure.

The LGA, which represents local authorities, warned of a gap in funding in adult social care that it claims is growing by a minimum of £7000 million a year.

Welcoming the decision to impose a delay, Izzi Seccombe, chairman of the association's community wellbeing board, said: "We cannot try and reform the way people pay for adult social care when the system itself is on such an unstable foundation."

"In an ideal world, we would have funding for both the system and the reforms, but we have to be realistic about where scarce resources are needed most," she said.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director for Age UK, said: "The government is right to delay implementing the cap on care costs as the top priority must be to stop the social care system that millions of older people depend on from collapsing in its entirety."

Government funding to local councils was cut by 37% in real terms over the course of the last parliament.

Charity Mencap also welcomed the move, and said it highlighted the fact that the care system is "critically under-funded".

Liz Kendall, Labour leadership candidate and shadow minister for care and older people, described the move as a "shameful broken promise from David Cameron, and devastating news for older people and their families who have been trying to plan for the future."

She added: "Not only has he failed to tackle the crisis in social care, David Cameron is now going back on the already watered-down proposals to protect people from catastrophic costs of care at the end of their lives."