NEW FIGURES SHOW OLDER PEOPLE PAYING BILLIONS IN CARE CHARGES - MULHOLLAND

12.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 7th Oct 2008

Elderly people paid £1.6bn in charges for their social care last year, new figures released today have revealed. These charges, levied on older people by local authorities under the means-tested social care regime, accounted for one fifth of all spending on services for older people, which totalled £8.9bn.

A breakdown of contributions shows that older people paid:

· £892m towards residential care

· £258m towards home care

· £37m towards equipment and adaptations

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister and Older People's Spokesperson Greg Mulholland MP said:

"These charges prove that there are serious flaws in the current social care system.

"The fact that across the country elderly people are paying over a billion in social care charges points to a system which is unfair, unsustainable, and unworkable.

"There is a clear and pressing need for a radical overhaul of the social care system, reform which is long overdue."

ENDS