§ Mr. MacGregorTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the cost of excluding the family home from calculation of means for the purpose of determining liability to pay for nursing home and other residential long-term care.
§ Mr. BowisI have been asked to reply.
No detailed estimates have been made. To raise the upper capital limit used by local authorities when charging for residential care to the value of the average house would, we broadly estimate, cost some half a billion pounds. This is based on the current number of people who pay the total cost of such care; it takes no account of variation in usage which could result from such a change.