An elderly person living at home on their own may need help with difficult tasks, with heavy lifting, maintenance of the property, filling in impossible government on line forms and the other hazards of the modern world.They need to pay for all the food, housing costs and support out of their pension and benefits. Social care has to assess what additional support they might qualify for to assist their continuing to live in their own home.
An elderly person accepted for a state financed care home gets free board and lodging and plenty of staff back up for daily tasks. It is true their state pension is reduced to reflect all the freebies they get as a care home resident. Nonetheless it is a big financial commitment by the state.
So the big issue for social policy for the elderly is when and how does an elderly person qualify for full free board and lodging in a care home? This depends on the answer to the other crucial question, what free back up and support is permissible to stay living at home?
Councils vary in the range and costs of support to the elderly and in the judgements they make about when to take full responsibility for someone’s daily living.
Some people argue the care home for someone with no savings or home to sell should provide a more basic service than the more luxurious private sector homes charging high fees for good personal care and fine dining. Others think it right that the state often buys into good private sector care homes at a discount so the full price self funder lives alongside the discounted state funded resident.
What should we expect for a care home service for people with no private means? Should the state buy places at private homes or run its own? What should the trigger be for an elderly person to be accepted for a free care home place?
July 19, 2026
All good questions. On average the care home cost should not be too high as only 6 months or so is the average as most people never need one and even if they do they only need a couple of years.
The NHS always complain that they have endless bed blocking from people who cannot be sent home with suitable home care or to rest homes due to lack of local authority facilities. Clearly it should be one budget for booths not the NHS fighting with the LA as to who picks up the bill. Hospitals need to have rest/care home facilities on site so full hospital beds are never blocked by people who only need basic care.
July 19, 2026
There used to be many cottage hospitals used as convalescent homes which reduced the strain on expensive and scarce hospital bed places.
July 19, 2026
Indeed but why not have some care homes next to the hospital so be bed blockers can always be removed from wards but also if more serious medical issues do later arise again medical staff are on hand and patients can easily be taken back into wards or operated on if needed.
July 19, 2026
indeed a shame that that system was ended, as it provided a properly planned in house physio style programme that helped people recover more quickly.
It is important to recognise that there is a very big difference between a Residential Care home, and a full blown 24 hour Care Nursing Home, and the two should not be confused.
July 19, 2026
+1
July 19, 2026
It won’t be long before the chickens come home to roost.
Endlessly talking about funds for social care when many times the figure needed is spent coddling illegal immigrants.
What is going to happen to these thousands of single men who’ve invaded our shores. Most will not settle into our kind of family life, many probably most will never contribute to the exchequer.
I forsee trouble ahead when Guyliner tries to impose a 10%death tax whilst pouring money into feather bedding illegals.
July 19, 2026
@Ian Wragg – the TwoTier Country. entering the UK is illegal, therefore criminal. Criminals amongst the Country at large go to jail. Leaving what we are told is a safe-haven the EU to escape persecution and oppression seems a bit contradictory, when the desire by the Establishment is to be dragged back under the control of this tyranny.
Then there is the Theft, each one of these criminals is stealing a place of a ‘real’ asylum seeker, someone the UK Citizen would want to help
July 19, 2026
Ian B
Talking about value for money with Government spending, Renting Hotels for illegals on long contracts were/are costing the taxpayer £145 per night (just for board on lodging) and the newer use of old military camps is we are informed much higher than that.
Compare to a balcony Stateroom on the Queen Mary 2 on which we have travelled, which includes all meals, intermittent eating/food at will, soft drinks, a cabin steward who cleans every day, and many choices of entertainment, all for £135 per night and Cunard (Carnival Corporation) make a profit at that rate.
Do Ministers never make this sort of comparison before signing off contracts.
July 19, 2026
Ian W.
I am very surprised that there is not trouble already. This has been going on for several years now, and us costing the taxpayer thousands a day. If we protest, we are called names, while the Politicians involved polish their halos.
Stealth taxes are increasing by the day to pay for this largesse, but we don’t have a say in any of it. The British may be slow to anger, but there is plenty of anger out there. The Politicians deliberately ignore it, while they cross their fingers, and hope nothing adverse will happen.
July 19, 2026
The NHS is a blight on many aspects of health and social care. The socialism on which the NHS is constructed pervades all of policy on health and social care and much more in the public sector. Levelling down and eliminating individual choice is the mantra across the board.
July 19, 2026
Well played England. Football matches are so much more entertaining when some teams do not endlessly fouled and pushed or shirt grabbed and are even encouraged to do this by “do nothing” referees, as we saw with Argentina especially in the tedious and scrappy first half against England.
The TV coverage also failed to replay so many of these blatant fouls or to discuss the topic much.
July 19, 2026
Kicking a ball is dull. Tiddleywinks is so much more skilful and exciting.
Patrick Barrie of the United Kingdom is the current world singles champion. He secured his 11th World Singles match victory in March 2025 by defeating the defending champion, Matthew Rose.
July 19, 2026
Interesting to hear that, but looking relative pay and support I suspect not that many agree with you.
How many people can you get in the typical tiddleywinks stadium I have never been to one?
July 19, 2026
There’s always the danger that tiddleywinks will become all about the money as happened with football, Formula 1 and other sports. If the Saudis start a Tiddleywinks League the writing will surely be on the wall. Shove Ha’penny doubly lost out owing to inflation and the move towards a cashless society, so you see how money can affect traditional sports in many ways.
July 19, 2026
Toad in the Hole is played in pubs in the Lewes area. They use heavy brass discs, similar to coins. You get them from behind the bar. A deposit is taken.
I have played in a couple of pubs – The Builders Arms, where it is sited beneath the dart board, and another pub nearer the town centre. I was hopeless. I took some comfort from being informed some of the boxes are easier to compete on than others, though my friends had no difficulty with the box.
The World Toads Singles Championship is later in the year.
July 19, 2026
D,
The Saudis are not yet involved in darts or snooker, as far as I am aware.
Some posters may be alarmed at the increasing talent in China perhaps.
July 19, 2026
England football great example of exciting things can happen if people have HOPE – similar to what our great country can achieve if people had more HOPE!
Many of England’s best players are young enough for next world cup with more good ones coming up so next time, we should plan and take seriously that we can win it (with the same attitude as the Argentinians without the fouling). And not just win it, but, more importantly, with in it with flair!
July 19, 2026
Unless the population is balanced so that the majority can afford to cover the costs of elderly folk, life runs out of control. If Councils are responsible for meeting the costs of care funded by Council Tax payments, then Councils would need to control which outsiders are allowed to live in their area or fail to cope.
So many things in life are restricted by needing to plan, obtain prior approval, gain authority, buy a licence or paying a fee. Going on holiday or owning a car are typical examples. In contrast, creating a child involves a massive add-on to the use of the planet’s resources throughout life, yet people are free to produce as many as they wish, with large numbers at the expense of someone else.
Now marriage is unimportant and needs no licence. Once dogs needed a licence, but the 37.5p fee was dearer to collect than it was worth to exist.
July 19, 2026
Good morning.
Well we could always put them on a dingy and send them to France.
But seriously. If this was not seen coming by various governments going back to the 60’s. We all knew the, Baby-boomers, like our kind host, would in some way or other, be a cost to future generations. So planning for it now seems rather late in the day.
Various governments of all stripes have made endless promises. The governments of the 80’s and early to mid 90’s did go someway to address things, what with private pension initiatives etc. But that would all be taxed away thanks to Prudence’s boyfriend, Gordon ‘the one eyed idiot’ Brown. So the legs were basically cut from them. Now we have a situation of falling house prices at a time when the elderly may need to sell to pay for their care.
My Council Tax Bill, which is far, far too high considering the services I do not use, is used to subsidise those who will not look after their own relatives. Money has to be taken from me and used so others can shirk their responsibilities.
We have, as I alluded to yesterday, the ability to look after ourselves and each other and just palm it all on the government. How lazy and selfish.
I cared for my late mother and did not receive a penny from the State. Why ? Because the computer said; “No!” Perhaps there needs to be some more “No’s”! made to other people ?
July 19, 2026
Should we blame the feckless or the government system that encourages this and augments the feckless? They are after all behaving rationally given the mad system that pertains.
July 19, 2026
People can not care for their own elderly relatives because equality deems it important that women go out to unfulfillling jobs rather than act as caregivers which would be generally more economically viable and more interesting than some of the jobs that we are subsidising through tax credits at present.
July 19, 2026
The reason why Councils no longer run care homes and indeed nurseries for the young is that it became clear that it was costing Councils about twice as much per person to run such facilities badly as it was costing the private sector to run them better (when I was a Councillor I was on the Social Services Committee then responsible for running such facilities)and that eventually became unsustainable for both Labour and Conservative Councils.
A good example of how private sector operation is far better than public sector operation.
July 19, 2026
What factors caused the difference in cost, was it simply competition driving the price or is there more to it?
July 19, 2026
What usually happens when an elderly person with incontinence and dementia in NHS care, or in a basic Council care home, is that they get an injection when they become too much of a burden. Especially if they do not get many, or often no visits from family
This is the next NHS scandal which will explode soon and throws new light on the recent attempt by the State to legalise euthanasia here in the UK
July 19, 2026
Firstly I believe Social care should be funded by government, not Local authorities, the rules should be the same Nationwide, not a post code lottery of different rules in different areas, as they are at present.
Surely it is better if care could be completed at home by the family with a little outside help if able and willing.
Some Local Authorities can provide handrails, and other bits of equipment that may be helpful in this regard, although again a post code lottery.
State funded Care homes should be a last resort with a medical/safety need reason, unless requested by personal choice which would then be at own expense.
If care homes are to be State funded, then the State pension should be forfeited in full (less a minor amount for personal item needs) perhaps part of a private pension should also be surrendered to pay for such as well, as there are no real living expenses, other than clothes etc.
At the moment some care home fees are paid for in full by the NHS under Continuing Care programme for dire medical need conditions, although it is rare to qualify for this, with again a post code lottery system in place.
Rather than extend this post further it is clear that there is no overall plan, and no set rules Nation-wide for social care, which make s a mockery of of any sensible discussion until all rules are the same for all areas of the Country.
Existing savings and house ownership should not be touched until the rules are the same Nationwide.
July 19, 2026
”Social care should be funded by government, not Local authorities”
Spot on, completely agree
July 19, 2026
No way should we trust the state to run care homes – we should not be that desperate as to need them.
There needs to be a partnership between families and private enterprise to create a viable alternative to the state homes that are all too inadequate, mostly.
We need family homes that will accommodate grandparents, not as an after thought, but built into every new house, with facilities to keep families together. That comes with less council housing that again is built to the lowest possible standard with barely enough room to sleep a 2+2 family, and more private housing. More options to allow people to build and work on their own homes.
Good quality private care homes should be encouraged, given tax incentives, for those people who could afford them – It really is time we started to look after our elderly a lot better!
July 19, 2026
Allegedly, Burnham is going to scrap the national digital ID scheme that has been bubbling under for so long now.
The committee that was driving this had little in the way of open discussion or inspection, meeting behind closed doors without minutes. Just what do they have to hide?
And what else are they planning?
Any expansion of the Government’s digital wallet, GOV UK app, and One Login – a centralised access system requiring citizens to hand over private data – must be strictly curtailed, or it risks becoming a “de facto” digital ID system.
This whole subject requires more examination and openness.
July 19, 2026
Steve
He may scrap it, but I guarantee that the people employed will be transferred to some other department, and not made redundant, thus the head count and costs will remain the same as now, Seen it happen so many times before, which is just but one reason why Governments fail to control any sort of costs, and why taxation is ever rising.
July 19, 2026
“What should we expect for a care home service for people with no private means?”
Just as much service as the charities can supply.
“Should the state buy places at private homes or run its own?”
What happens to the care when the state run service goes on strike?
“What should the trigger be for an elderly person to be accepted for a free care home place?”
Check their insurance policy.
Care home and home care are good cases for insurance – many people never need them, need them only for a short while or might have a long term need.
I’m hoping my nursey wife will look after me should I need care. I’m sure I will get the care, just not the sympathy.
July 19, 2026
If the function of the right-wing press is to oppose the Labour government, we should be careful to fact check their statements, which are often false and which quote story lines deigned to frighten folk of the consequences of voting for them
A case in point was the assertion in the media earlier this year that Rachel Reeves was “plotting” to hit private pensions. We were assured that the lady would reduce the 25% tax free lump sum that can be withdrawn. As a result, hundreds of thousands of folk withdrew their 25% in full. Now that the lady has denied any intention to do this, these people want to put their 25% back into their pensions so that it can continue to grow
HMRC have been forced to advise that due to their rules, any attempt to do so will mean their 25% will be taxed. The moral of this is do not, under any circumstances, believe predictions in the right-wing press of increased taxation – they have an ulterior political motive. Just like the non-existent “blackouts” which are going to be caused by net zero every winter
July 19, 2026
It’s best when the state and private industry can work together to encourage people to save for retirement throughout their working lives. Then retirees should be afforded a choice of the type and standard of their retirement home. Socialists hate the idea that some will have better conditions than others in retirement. So they cannot be trusted not to raid retirement funds or not to penalise retirees who use their own savings to gain some other aspect of their individual choosing. So they level down and reduce incentives for people to save for retirement.
Another reason to encourage saving, apart from reducing the burden on the public budget, is to make public provision less dependent on volatile tax revenues which undermine stability of the rules.
July 19, 2026
Approximately 11000 of the 15000 care homes in the UK are operated by private enterprises under the current public/private model that is one of few successful such economic models of this type. Nonetheless, few private care operators are highly profitable. Average operating margins are typically circa 22 percent. Delays to paying fees on time and the competing claims for funds at local authority level, where the priority may not be care for the elderly, make what should be a very stable and prescribed return profile for institutional investors less certain. To imagine that a cash starved government is going to acquire or build homes is for the birds. However, with the assurance of long term, inflation linked, contractual income, care homes could attract serious investment from public and local authority pension funds seeking secure income with asset backing.
July 19, 2026
We have a lot of empty real-estate, buildings and accommodation at or near to NHS hospitals, ie state owned land. I’d support and welcome elderly/social care homes at these site (close to medical facilities) free for those with no funds or means. The should be manned by expanding the NHS staff, reintroducing auxcilliary nurses and first year nurses, with services fully intergrated into that NHS hospital
July 19, 2026
Welcome to the TwoTier UK. The elderly get punished twice you will pay your National Insurance or face the consequences, jail fines etc. Criminals invading the Country can expect 4 star accommodation, phones, money to spend, even top flight legal representation, without ever contributing.
Local Councils in their game to avoid funding local infrastructure seek to penalise those that have to travel unless its themselves. All for the benefit of ‘Your’ safety and security! Councils have introduce 20mph speed limits to avoid updating roads, introduced more parking restrictions to create income, LTN’s to stop the ‘rat-runs’ they created. Then these same Councils keeping to the Establishments TwoTier philosophy will use taxpayers money to pay the fines of their own staff – one law for them and another for the rest of us.
Welcome to Socialism!
July 19, 2026
“Should the state buy places at private homes or run its own?”
As our elderly population is increasing, private homes could be overwhelmed by “state customers”. Would this be nationalisation by the back door ?
July 19, 2026
Oldwulf
If you have a spare bedroom and need some care, then why not let a nurse in training use it for no cost, with the proviso that they take care of you for a set number of hours a day ?
Guarantee HMRC would call that a benefit in kind, would put a value on it, because it would help both sides, so would likely tax it !
July 19, 2026
Somewhat related, interesting article in London review of Books – Gerontocracy in America by Samuel Moyn. Essentially the ‘problem’ is that the old have grabbed too much of the money and property, are hanging on to too many high level legal and political posts and hanging on to too much property.
The thesis suggests forcing the elderly out of employment, forcing them to give away their money and property through tax or appropriation. The upside being good quality care for all elderly no matter what. No need to hang on to your cash – you won’t need it. Can’t see it happening in the US or here.
Here there is much moaning about ‘Triple Lock’ and cutting it back. I remember the pre Triple Lock days. The UK old age pension was never generous and through inflation and Treasury parsimony had become an embarrassment and a political liability. My old granny could hardly afford to live.
Our political class seeing political immolation looming came up with Triple Lock as an example of how moral and upright politicians were. Even now UK pensions are far from generous. We spend about 4.7% GDP whilst our profligate European neighbours squander about 10%. Time to cough up more for the oldies not less.
We shall see how Mr Burnham gets on. I think taking a bright light to the goings on of Private Equity and Outsourcing firms would be a good place to start. Then we might take Planning Permission entirely away from local councils to be replaced with national zoning. As they said in China – may you live in interesting times.
July 19, 2026
given that Burnham is increasing foreign “aid” by masses I think that should be the first target before we start squeezing out own population.
next up should be the masses of money poured into Serco to support illegal immigrants, that can be cut to zero, let them sleep on the streets instead of our own homeless.
then the National Insurance 5 year exemption for arrivals from India can be stopped, and they can pay at least as much as the rest of us.
All state benefits including money paid in old age should be made proportional to the amount of your adult life you have paid into the system, returning some incentive into the system to actually contribute when you can.
Close the worst 10% of state schools and just give the kids funding to go boarding to a fee paying school.
Stop all further attempts to raid the pension funds of people who have been prudent enough to save for their old age.
Revisit all ancillary benefits available to families getting free school meals, like free music instrument lessons, free sport centre access, free school bus passes, free school trips, and so on, to return some justice to those families not claiming benefits.
July 19, 2026
If a social care resident who is funded by the state is paid for by a reduction in state pension then a private resident should also have the opportunity to access the same accommodation and care for the same reduction in pension. That is fair. The private resident might then opt for more luxurious accommodation at an increased cost.
You wrote yesterday that it was right that a care resident who had their own property to pay their own way as they would otherwise be paying costs to stay in their own property. I doubt very much that this would equate to the residency charges of several hundred pounds a day charged by care homes just to reside. Anyone mortgage free would only have to pay food, electricity and gas, council tax, water and maintenance charges. These relatively small sums are dwarfed by the residency charges for private patients.
Social care should be universal (as should all benefits). Means testing punishes the responsible.
July 19, 2026
It’s important to emphasise the practical real world challenges declining health and physical abilities of old folk and even security, as sadly demonstrated by Ann Widdecombe RIP.
Rural locations often require your own transport as NHS is centred in cities far away and vehicle ownership is challenging to put it mildly!
Supermarket delivery has been much improved since Covid, thanks to competition from the Private Sector again.
It’s so pathetic that Labour are so blinkered by their self importance that they fail to see outside their fantasy world especially when they borrow billions just to pay the interest on their state borrowing largesse.
July 19, 2026
“Should the state buy places at private homes or run its own?”
Neither. The state should entirely retreat from the business of welfare, and it should become the preoccupation of well-funded charities. At present such charities spend billions on politically-slanted campaigning, and on supporting ‘change’ – which is none of the business of charities. Or the charities support the well-off, which is also not their true remit.
In very many cases I have observed charities have been taken over in the past decades by political activists who have subverted – and certainly distorted – the intentions of the original bequest. These bodies should return to their original function, of supporting the genuinely needy, the disabled, the afflicted, the hard cases. Those who are not needy will then be persuaded by market forces (i.e. the felt need of avoiding penury) to return to work. Upcoming generations will pay heed to the precedent, and avoid getting into a self-indulgent state of constructive helplessness, one it is realized that ;there is no alternative’.
By the way, this viewpoint is by no means as unpopular, as minority or as extreme as we are so regularly gaslit into believing. The current state of UK debt makes such a reform starkly unavoidable.