Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the criteria used to determine the amount allocated for the Personal Expenses Allowance for residents in care homes.

The personal expenses allowance (PEA) sets the statutory minimum amount of income an individual residing in a care home must be left with after being charged for their care. These rates are reviewed annually, and local authorities also have the discretion to set higher rates where they choose.

The 2025 Local Authority Circular, published on 3 March 2025, sets out that the rates of the PEA will be uprated in line with consumer price index (CPI) inflation for 2025/2026, to £30.65 per week.

This aligns with the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget 2024 announcement that benefits will be uprated in line with CPI inflation.