PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Care Homes: Fees and Charges (3 July 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it the policy of the Government to prevent nursing homes and residential rest homes charging lower fees for residents funded by local authorities than for residents who are self-funding; and if he will make a statement.

Asked by:
Sir Christopher Chope (Conservative)

Contracting arrangements between local authorities and independent sector care homes are a matter for local negotiation and decision. The Government does not set or recommend the level of the fees that local authorities pay.

We would expect decisions taken by councils commissioning care home places to be made on the basis of judgements about quality, best value and the outcomes for individual residents. Local authorities are major purchasers of care home places and are often able to negotiate very competitive rates with care providers.

Providers are free to decide the rates they offer to residents whose care has not been arranged by a local authority. Contractual arrangements in these circumstances are entirely a matter between the care home operator and the individual resident.

Answered by:
Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat)
8 July 2014