§ Ms. JowellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effect on the cost of the community care reforms of the proposal to levy council tax on nursing and residential care homes.
§ Mr. YeoResidents and patients in residential care and nursing homes will not be counted towards the personal element of the council tax. Where a home has no resident staff, home owners will be required to pay only the property element. This will reduce the bill by 50 per cent. They are likely also to be able to claim further reductions in respect of disabled residents and should in addition benefit from the transitional relief scheme. The cost to care homes and nursing homes is therefore likely to be small and there should be no significant effect on the cost of the community care reforms.