Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure elderly citizens on low incomes are able to access social care.

The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to carry out an assessment where an adult or carer appears to have care and support needs. Once an eligibility determination has been made the local authority should then carry out a financial assessment to determine whether or not the person should pay anything towards their care.

We have announced a cap on care costs and the more generous means testing which will benefit all adults. The Government will unfreeze the Minimum Income Guarantee for those receiving care in their own homes and Personal Expenses Allowance for care home residents, which will both rise in line with inflation from April 2022.