People in residential care will get to keep more of their own money

The amount of money people in Wales can keep when in residential care is set to increase from £30,000 to £40,000 from April 2018.

The Welsh Government has commited to raise the limit to £50,000 by the 2021 election.

The capital limit determines whether a person pays for the full cost of their residential care, or whether they receive financial support towards the cost from their local authority.

The move is part of the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government commitment to increase the capital limit used by local authorities who charge for residential care from £24,000 to £50,000 during the current Assembly term.

The increase is being delivered in a phased approach, which commenced from April 2017 when the limit in relation to residential care was increased to £30,000.

There are up to 4,000 care home residents in Wales who pay the full cost of their care due to their capital being over the limit.

The introduction of a £30,000 limit has helped well over 400 of these in only the first six months of its operation

Increasing the capital limit to £50,000 has the potential to benefit significantly more, depending upon the value of the capital they hold.

Social Care Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies said:

“The Welsh Government is committed to supporting older people, and those requiring care, to live the lives they want to lead.

“We promised to more than double the capital people can keep when in residential care – freeing up more of people’s money for them to use as they wish.

“We are now well on our way to delivering that pledge to the people of Wales. We know that well over 400 people are already benefiting from the increase in the limit, and we expect this to rise substantially when the limit is increased to £50,000.”

From April we raised the limit to £30,000 and provided an additional £4.5 million per annum to local authorities to support its implementation.

This increase resulted in Wales having the highest capital limit in the UK and has been welcomed by care home residents and prospective residents alike.