§ Lord Lipseyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the estimated costs of their proposal that the value of homes should be excluded from the calculation of means for the first three months of nursing and residential care; and [HL4077]
What is the estimated cost of their proposal that nursing care should be free, as proposed in paragraph 15.20 of The NHS Plan. [HL4076]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathAs the NHS Plan sets out, disregarding a resident's property from the means test for the first three months could benefit around 30,000 people each year, who could save up to £2,000–£3,000 during the first three months of their stay in a residential or nursing home. The actual cost to the Exchequer of these proposals will depend on the number of people entering residential care and their assets and earnings at that time. Sufficient resources have been added to the Personal Social Services Standard Spending Assessment to enable local councils to meet these pressures.
The Government have estimated that the additional cost to the Exchequer of providing free nursing care, as outlined in the NHS Plan, will be £80 million in 2001–02, £175 million in 2002–03 and £165 million in 2003–04. Additional funding of this level was included in the Department of Health programme in the recent spending review settlement.