Currently anyone with savings over £23,500 will pay for their full care costs, receiving no help from the state or local authority.

Gordon Brown has put forward proposals to introduce free personal care for those who would prefer to receive care in their own home. It is estimated that as many as 350,000 who have the ‘highest needs’ would be eligible to receive this care which would not be subject to of any type of means testing.

These proposals only relate to England but are in keeping with those already in place in Scotland.

He has pledged to overhaul the current system which provides social care for the elderly and to allocate the responsibility of providing care for the elderly to a National Care Service. Currently this responsibility rests with the Local authority and the NHS.

Personal care will help those who require help with the normal activities of daily living, from dressing to cooking a meal. It will help these people to stay in their own homes for as long as possible.

The government hopes to implement these plans by the middle of 2010. They propose taking £400 million from the NHS budget to help pay for this service.

If you have any questions about your care fees planning, please do call me on 01737 222387 or email sandy@icl-ifa.co.uk.