Consultation outcome: Operational guidance to implement a
lifetime cap on care costs
From:
Department of Health and
Social Care
Published
4 March 2022
Last updated
16 January 2023 — See all updates
Applies to England
This consultation has concluded
Download the full outcome
Charging reform:
government response to the consultation on 'supporting local
preparation' guidance
HTML
Charging reform:
government response to the consultation on 'implementing the cap
on care costs' operational guidance
HTML
Implementing the cap on
care costs: revised draft operational guidance
PDF, 394
KB, 77 pages
Detail of outcome
Following an announcement in the government’s Autumn Statement 2022,
the planned adult social care charging reforms are now delayed
until October 2025.
From 4 March to 1 April 2022, the government carried out a public
consultation seeking views on draft statutory guidance setting
out how a cap on care costs would operate in practice. The
responses to the consultation have helped to refine the guidance.
They will also help the government understand how it can support
local authorities as they prepare to implement the charging
reforms from October 2023.
The above documents are:
-
the formal government response to the ‘supporting local
preparation’ part of the consultation
-
the formal government response to the ‘implementing the cap
on care costs’ part of the consultation
-
the revised draft operational guidance ‘Implementing the cap
on care costs’, with the responses from the consultation
taken on board – this document will become part of the Care
and support statutory guidance in October 2023 when the
charging reforms are implemented
As part of our response to the ‘supporting local preparation’
part of the consultation, the document ‘Supporting local
preparation: draft guidance’ (see below) has now been revised and
published as part of the Care and support statutory
guidance (see chapter 23, ‘Charging reform: guidance on
supporting local preparation’).
As set out in the response to the ‘implementing the cap on care
costs’ part of the consultation, we will shortly publish further
changes to Annex A of the Care and support statutory guidance on
choice of accommodation.
Original consultation Summary
The government is seeking views on the statutory guidance which
sets out how a cap on care costs would operate in practice.
This consultation ran from
2pm on 4 March 2022 to 11:45pm on 1 April 2022
Consultation description
On 7 September 2021, the Prime Minister announced that from
October 2023, the government will introduce a new £86,000 cap on
the amount anyone in England will need to spend on their personal
care over their lifetime.
The main purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the
statutory guidance which sets out how a cap on care costs would
operate in practice, as well as to inform how government can
support local authorities in their preparations for its
implementation from October 2023.
It is important that the guidance for local authorities is clear
and operable so that local authority officials and other
stakeholders are able to prepare successfully for implementation
of this reform.
See the easy read version of the
online survey.
Documents
Operational guidance to
implement a lifetime cap on care costs
HTML
Supporting local
preparation: draft guidance
HTML
Implementing the cap on
care costs: draft operational guidance
PDF, 293
KB, 56 pages
