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THE Government is today being urged to look again at how inheritance tax could help fund a better care system and stop older people losing their home to pay for a care home place.

The call comes from Stephen Burke, chief executive of Counsel and Care, at the charity’s annual conference, ‘Right care Right deal’, on financing care.

The conference will be addressed by the Care Minister Phil Hope just weeks before the Government publishes a green paper on the future funding of care and support.

Stephen Burke will tell the conference that better care could be funded by a ‘care duty’ on estates – along with better use of existing funding for care, health and housing; more support for carers; and more help to older people and their families to make the best use of their own resources.

The growing care funding gap needs to be addressed urgently, he will say.

It is estimated that more than 60,000 older people pay for a place in a care home every year by selling their own home.

That number is likely to increase as property ownership increases with younger age groups and more people are expected to pay for their own care.

A care duty set at just 2.5% on estates valued between £25,000 and £312,000 could, for example, raise at least £1.7 billion a year to bridge the care funding gap.

A care duty of 4.25% could generate almost £3 billion.

The collapse of the property market has meant many older people and their families are faced with even bigger problems paying for a care home place.

If their local authority won’t help with a loan through a deferred payment, then older people have to get a private loan, rack up debts with the care home or sell their home below market prices.

Growing numbers of enquiries to Counsel and Care’s advice service are about problems paying for care home fees.

Stephen Burke will tell the conference: “Families want the right care and the right deal. An increasing number of older people and their families are faced with the prospect of huge care home bills which have to be paid by selling their home. This has been made even harder by the current economic crisis.

“It would be much fairer if better care was funded through a care duty on people’s estates, with a small percentage paying for care.

“Rather than losing the family home, people would pay a bit more through inheritance tax. The care duty could top up current public spending or be ring-fenced and used as part of a new social insurance scheme to pay for care. This proposal makes sense because we already have a system for collection, and it would keep track with demographic changes and increased personal wealth.

“Alongside this reform we need to see much better use of public funding for care and support, with health and housing working closer together with care. We need more support for family carers and much earlier intervention to support people at the right time. And we need better information and advice for all older people and carers so they can get the support they need.

“The green paper this spring is a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a new care system that meet the needs of this generation and future generations of older people. The green paper must point the way to radical reform of care funding to meet the needs of our ageing population, with more older people living with dementia and disabilities.

“The current economic downturn can’t be used as an excuse to delay action any longer. We can’t ignore the care crisis. It’s one of the biggest challenges facing us all for decades to come and requires urgent and radical reform.”

Counsel and Care is a national charity working with older people, their families and carers to get the best care and support. Helpline 0845 300 7585
Email: advice@counselandcare.org.uk
www.counselandcare.org.uk