Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the trends in the level of older people being required to move from established care home placements to alternative homes solely on cost grounds once they become local‑authority funded.

The Department does not hold this information.

Where an individual is assessed as requiring support in a residential care home, and they are eligible for means tested support from their local authority, the local authority must ensure that the individual drawing on care is offered a genuine choice of accommodation. This must include at least one option which is affordable within the person’s personal budget.

Where an individual wishes to remain in their current accommodation, and this accommodation is more expensive than their personal budget, the local authority is under a duty to arrange for the person to be placed in the preferred accommodation where it is satisfied that another person on their behalf, or in some limited circumstances the person receiving care, is willing and able to cover the difference in cost for the expected duration of the care arrangement, and other conditions set out in regulations are met.