Martin stresses the importance of accurate advice on Social Care
Martin welcomes the Government’s announcement on social care, because another 100,000 people will benefit. Although he is concerned that when talk of £75,000 and £123,000 are bandied around, as some vulnerable people may be concerned, particularly in areas like Northern Lincolnshire, where terraced houses routinely change hands for less than £75,000. He stressed the importance of accurate advice being readily available.
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con): I, too, welcome my right hon. Friend’s announcement and the progress he has made. However, he will be aware that in a constituency such as Cleethorpes, which I represent and where a terraced house can cost less than £75,000, vulnerable and elderly people will still be concerned about the figures that are being tossed around. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that his Department passes the information to local authorities and local organisations that advise such people, in the hope that they can clearly understand the commitments?
Mr Hunt: We will be happy to do that. I think that my hon. Friend’s constituents will value the fact that the horrifically low threshold of £23,000, beyond which they get no help at all, will be raised significantly to the £100,000 threshold, in 2010-11 prices, that Andrew Dilnot recommended. Under the draft Care and Support Bill, all local authorities will be obliged to give a care assessment and access to financial advice to everyone in their area in order to make sure that constituents such as those of my hon. Friend are given the information they need.