£10,000 rise in amount of capital care home residents can keep

The amount of money people in Wales can keep when in residential care will increase from £30,000 to £40,000 from April next year, it has been announced.

The move is part of the Welsh Government's commitment to increase the capital limit used by local authorities who charge for residential care from £24,000 to £50,000 during the current Assembly term.

The increase is being delivered in a phased approach, which started from April 2017 when the limit in relation to residential care was increased to £30,000.

The capital limit determines whether a person pays for the full cost of their residential care, or whether they receive financial support towards the cost from their local authority.

The Welsh Government says there are up to 4,000 care home residents who pay for the full cost of their care.

Increasing the capital limit to £50,000 has the potential to benefit a significant number of these, depending upon the value of the capital they hold.