Without a cap on social care costs, former Red Wall seat residents will continue to suffer the most

New analysis published today by the Health Foundation’s REAL Centre shows that people living in the newly gain Conservative areas (the former 'Red Wall' seats) have most to gain from a £50,000 cap on social care costs, as compared to Labour and more traditional Conservative constituencies. Under the status quo, less wealthy people are most at risk of losing almost everything, with some people living in red wall seat areas at risk of losing more than 80% of their housing wealth. The analysis comes on the day of byelection in Batley and Spen, one of the Red Wall seats. 

This is because the former Red Wall seats have lower median house prices (£160,000) as compared to Labour-held constituencies (£190,000) or older Conservative seats (£270,000)

Read the full analysis, including the average house price per constituency.

Charles Tallack, Assistant, Director of the Health Foundation’s REAL Centre, said:

‘Social care in England needs fixing, and the Prime Minister has pledged to do it. The current system needs more money and reform to ensure those who need care can get it, to improve workers’ pay and conditions and to stabilise the providers that deliver care.

‘Currently, if you have assets worth more than £23,250 you will need to fund your own care. This leaves people exposed to huge and unpredictable costs, making it impossible to plan and prepare. It’s also unfair because those needing the most care – for example, someone living with severe dementia for many years - pay the most. A cap on the amount individuals pay for care would help fix these problems.

‘Our research shows that those living in newly gained Conservative areas – the so called former ‘red wall seats’ – would benefit most from a cap on care costs, compared to those living in Labour or older Conservative areas. This is because they generally have fewer housing assets – with the median house price being £160,000, lower than that in Labour-held constituencies (£190,000), or older Conservative seats (£270,000). Under the current system these former red wall seats are most at risk of losing almost everything.

‘A cap on individual care costs won’t address the many deep-seated issues facing the social care sector, such as low pay, but it would fix one big problem: the lack of protection for people and their families against potentially catastrophic care costs.’

Media contact

Creina Lilburne
Creina.Lilburne@health.org.uk
07941 156 827