When you are in a hole stop digging is Labour Parliamentary candidate Hannah O’Neill’s advice to the Prime Minister, as over 20,000 older people in Milton Keynes and their families face the threat of having the value of their homes included in the calculation of their care costs.

The Conservatives want to change how social care is paid for. After years of under funding they want older people to pay the full costs of care, instead of funding it properly. At the heart of the Conservative Party manifesto is a proposal to include housing property values in the calculation of what the person needs to pay towards their care. This is called the Financial Assessment.

Currently all applicants for social care must have a Financial Assessment. What the Conservatives are planning go do is add the value of a person’s house into the calculation. This will mean that home owners are likely to have to pay the full cost of their care needs; be they for care home costs or for care in their own family home.

Cllr Hannah O’Neill Labour candidate in Milton Keynes South said, “Mrs May is in a mess. A deep hole! The Conservative Manifesto proposed that every household would be able to retain up to £100k of assets. Only income and assets above that sum would be taken into account. So if you have a £290k house you would be charged £190k for your care costs. This cost could be paid after death from the estate. Meaning the family would not benefit from their parents assets.“

On Monday May 22 the Prime Minister tried to get out of the hole she was in by suggesting there could be a limit on contributions, in addition to the £100k being retained. But she refused to set out any limit on contributions.

Cllr Hannah O’Neill added, “The Prime Minister’s proposals to try and backtrack will fail because they still want Older people to have the value of their homes included in any Financial Assessment or calculation of care costs.“

Cllr O’Neill concluded, “I think it wrong that a cancer or stroke patient has all their costs met by the NHS whilst in hospital, but an older women with dementia or a stroke patient returning home will have to pay. That seems unfair to me.“

Cllr O’Neill concluded, “A much better way would be for all social care costs, like NHS costs, to be met from general taxation. I would suggest that Mrs May stop digging and back down by ending the threat of taking the value of houses in to care cost calculations.“