Keeping pace with the growing size of an
ageing population

The funding of long-term care remains one of the biggest public policy challenges facing the government. As the baby-boomer generation grows older, it is estimated that spending on social care needs to double in real terms over the next twenty years just to keep pace with the growing size of the ageing population.

In July 2010, the Commission on Funding of Care and Support was set up by the coalition to review the funding system of care and support in England. Chaired by Andrew Dilnot, it presented its findings to the government in its report ‘Fairer Care Funding’, published on 4 July 2011.

Among the recommendations in the report are:

Individuals’ lifetime contributions towards their social care costs – which are currently potentially unlimited – should be capped. After the cap is reached, individuals would be eligible for full state support for care costs. This cap should be between £25,000 and £50,000. We consider that £35,000 is the most appropriate and fair figure.

The means-tested threshold, above which people are liable for their full care costs, should be increased from £23,250 to £100,000.

National eligibility criteria and portable assessments should be introduced to ensure greater consistency.

All those who enter adulthood with a care and support need should be eligible for free state support immediately rather than being subjected to a means test.