News round-up 11/7: Deferred payment for care

Social care

The government will introduce a deferred payment scheme in 2015 where elderly and vulnerable people will be allowed to borrow money from councils to pay for residential care and pay it back when they die, the Guardian reports.

The “pay when you die” scheme, as the Daily Telegraph describes it, will see councils recover money lent to nursing home residents through the sale of houses of the deceased. Meanwhile, the same paper reports that the NHS is at risk of collapse, as cuts to social care are causing a rise in bed-blocking and emergency hospital admissions.

Elsewhere, the Financial Times writes that a cap on the sums individuals have to pay towards nursing home fees will be accepted in principle in a white paper published today. The government may consult on whether the scheme should be voluntary, which would allow people to opt-out of insuring themselves against all costs up to the cap limit. However, the state might not pick up the bill for the remaining amount, the paper writes.

The government will disappoint campaigning groups for the elderly by delaying the decision on when a cap might take effect and how it will be funded, the Independent reports.

Environment

Government climate change advisers have warned that protecting householders from floods across the UK will cost at least £860m by 2015, the Guardian writes. According to the select committee on climate change, the amount of public money available for flood defences has been drastically reduced and shortfalls are not being made up for through the private sector, as the government had hoped.

The Financial Times reports that the number of properties built on floodplains has risen by 12% over the last 10 years, compared with a 7% rise in other areas.

Meanwhile, the Times writes that the “endless rain” in Britain could be a direct consequence of melting Arctic sea ice, according to the latest research.

Transport

Fears are mounting that London is heading for a “transport meltdown” during the Olympic Games, with concerns that the Home Office is not doing enough to ease immigration queues at Heathrow, the Financial Times reports. Immigration minister Damian Green has confirmed that the Border Force will have 500 extra staff on standby from Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Times reports that transport secretary Justine Greening is due to say that the government will delay a consultation on improving airport capacity until later this year. This news comes ahead of a publication on aviation policy released tomorrow.

Lords reform

The Independent leads with news that the coalition was left shaken as the prime minister and his deputy were faced with more than 100 rebel Conservative MPs on proposed Lords reform. An alliance of Labour and Conservative rebels forced David Cameron to abandon a vote on a “programme motion” yesterday, which would have set a timetable for the bill.

The Financial Times reports that Mr Cameron decided to delay the motion after Conservative party managers realised they would not be able to win the vote.

The late decision to pull the motion spared the government the embarrassment of losing its first vote since 2012, the Times writes.

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