Author: By Gavin Cordon, Press Association

Under the Conservatives’ proposals, for a one-off payment of about £8,000,
people in England would receive a guarantee that all fees for permanent
residential care would be waived for the rest of their life.

The Tories said that the “home protection plan” could be run by existing
insurers and would not require any public money.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said that it would end a “major
injustice” which each year saw an estimated 45,000 elderly people in England
forced to sell their homes to pay for residential care.

The announcement sets the stage for next week’s annual Conservative Party
conference in Manchester.

It is clearly intended to trump Gordon Brown’s promise at Labour’s conference
to provide free personal home care for 350,000 elderly people in England and
Wales from September next year.

Mr Lansley said: “It is an immense injustice that every year, 45,000 ordinary
elderly people are being forced to sell their family home and lose their
life savings to pay for care when they are at their most vulnerable.

“This scheme is a genuinely huge step forward for England’s care system and
will lift a major weight of worry from the shoulders of all older people and
their families.”

Under the Conservative proposals, people will be given the option of signing
up to the scheme when they reach the state retirement age of 65.

There will be a one-off joining fee, which the Conservatives estimate will be
about £8,000. The scheme will be open to existing over 65s for a limited
period of time.

The role of the Government will be restricted to setting out some basic rules
and safeguards to ensure that it remains fair and financially viable over
the long term.

The Tories said that it would offer “excellent value for money”. Currently
anyone entering residential care must pay their fees themselves if they have
assets worth more than £23,000, including their home.

Most people who enter residential care stay for at least two years, with
annual fees averaging about £26,000.

“In 12 years, Labour have failed to offer older people any hope of a way out
of the forced home sales crisis,” Mr Lansley said.

“A vote for the Conservatives is now a vote for a real, affordable alternative
to losing your home if you need to enter residential care.”

Care services minister Phil Hope described the Tories’ measure as a “flawed
proposal”.

He said: “I am delighted that the Tories are finally engaging with this issue,
although it’s a shame that in their haste to come up with something they
have cobbled together an unfunded policy for a voluntary scheme which would
necessarily involve massive tax subsidies to pay for the shortfall.

“A one-off,up-front voluntary payment of £8,000 would not be enough to cover
the cost of residential care.

“So where do they propose the rest of the money comes from? And it’s hard to
see how it would prevent people from having to sell their homes- how many
pensioners have £8,000 lying around? Or £16,000 if you’re married?”

“The Tories need to go back to the drawing board with this unaffordable and
flawed proposal.”

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