In September 2021, the government announced that a cap on lifetime social care costs would be operationalised in England from October 2023, set at a level of £86,000. When the possibility of a cap was first legislated for in the 2014 Care Act, that legislation set out that total personal care costs incurred (including those covered by means-tested council funding for those with low assets or income) would count towards the cap. However, in November 2021, the government proposed to amend the Care Act so that an individual will reach the social care cost cap when the amount they have spent themselves (excluding any means-tested support from their council) reaches £86,000. The government estimates that this amendment will save £900 million per year from 2027–28, reducing the cost of the social care cap by around a fifth.
