The House of Lords economic affairs committee has launched an inquiry into social care funding.
The committee, which is accepting submissions until 9 October 2018, wants to assess the effectiveness of different funding models, the shortfalls in delivery, and make recommendations on how future social care demands can be met in England.
Lord Forsyth, the committee's chairman, said the goal of the inquiry was to "consider the funding challenges, and how they can be overcome, in the delivery of social care in England".
He said: "We will make our recommendations to Government in due course, but to inform our work we want to hear from as broad a range of people as possible.
"If you have a view on how the social care system can be improve in England, look at our call for evidence and let us know what you think."
FTAdviser reported this week the government would propose a new cap to fund social care in its upcoming green paper.
At a hearing in front of the economic affairs committee in the House of Lords on Tuesday (11 September), the Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond said the green paper would set out several proposals to reflect different ways of delivering and funding the cap.
Several solutions for the care funding problem are said to be on the table, including the ‘Care Isa’ – a capped savings product, exempt from inheritance tax – and a 'care pension', which mixes drawdown and care insurance.
It is estimated a mere 12 per cent of adults aged 55 or over are currently putting aside money to pay for their future care in the UK.
In December the government confirmed a proposed £72,500 cap on social care would be scrapped.
Former prime minister David Cameron had promised an upper limit on the amount people must pay towards their own care, following recommendations from the Dilnot commission in 2011.
But Mrs May's government said a green paper on long-term reform would be published this summer instead, which then got pushed back to the autumn.
The government has since hinted that the publication of the document could be further delayed, due to "unforeseen circumstances".
Matt Hancock is now in charge of delivering this paper, replacing Jeremy Hunt as secretary of state for health and social care.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
