Autumn Statement: Jeremy Hunt announces two-year delay to the cap on care costs

Currently we have a system where if you have savings or assets worth more than £23,250, then you pay for all the support you need with day to day living. If you have less than that, then you’ll get some help from your local authority.

The Dilnot inquiry averred that unfairness was ‘built’ into the current system, with some people, for instance those with dementia, being required to pay huge costs across their lifetime for the support they need to survive.

Dilnot’s plan was to set a fixed limit on the care costs an individual would be required to pay in their lifetime. He hoped this would give people certainty which would allow families to plan and perhaps open up a private insurance market for care costs.

With governments of various hues having promised to tackle this vexed issue, the concern is that by pushing it back beyond the next election, the plans are effectively being kicked into the long grass. Some are suggesting the postponement could even spell a ‘death knell’ for these changes.