Long term care Self-funders and advice
In September 2011, Which? used Freedom of Information requests to find out how many local authorities kept records of people who pay for their own residential social care. The results showed a widespread lack of monitoring, with 50% of councils reporting that they didn't record individuals in this category. 60% confirmed that they were unable to say how many self-funders ran out of money and became reliant on council support.
We contacted 186 local authorities with social services responsibility in England and Wales- and received 143 replies. Here is what their responses revealed:
| Local authority records of local self funders | ||
|---|---|---|
| Authority | Keeps records of local self funders? | Keep records of assessed self funders who subsequently fall below the capital threshold. |
| Barking & Dagenham London Borough Council | no | no |
| Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Bath & North East Somerset Council | no | no |
| Bedford Borough Council | yes | no |
| Birmingham City Council | yes | yes |
| Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council | no | no |
| Blackpool Council | no | no |
| Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | no |
| Bournemouth Borough Council | no | no |
| Bracknell Forest Council | yes | yes |
| Brent London Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Bridgend County Borough Council | no | no |
| Brighton & Hove City Council | no | no |
| Bristol City Council | no | no |
| Bromley London Borough Council | no | no |
| Buckinghamshire County Council | yes | yes |
| Bury Council | no | yes |
| Caerphilly County Borough Council | no | no |
| Calderdale Council | yes | no |
| Cambridgeshire County Council | yes | no |
| Camden London Borough Council | no | no |
| Cardiff County Council | yes | no |
| Carmarthenshire County Council | yes | no |
| Central Bedfordshire Council | no | yes |
| Ceredigion County Council | yes | no |
| Cheshire East Council | no | yes |
| Cheshire West & Chester Council | no | no |
| City of London Corporation | yes | no |
| Conwy County Borough Council | no | yes |
| Cornwall County Council | no | yes |
| Coventry City Council | no | no |
| Darlington Borough Council | no | no |
| Denbighshire County Council | no | no |
| Derbyshire County Council | no | |
| Devon County Council | no | |
| Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council | no | no |
| Durham County Council | yes | no |
| Ealing London Borough Council | yes | yes |
| East Riding of Yorkshire Council | yes | no |
| East Sussex County Council | yes | yes |
| Enfield London Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Essex County Council | yes | yes |
| Flintshire County Council | no | no |
| Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | no |
| Gloucestershire County Council | no | no |
| Greenwich London Borough Council | yes | no |
| Gwynedd Council | yes | no |
| Hackney London Borough Council | no | no |
| Halton Borough Council | no | no |
| Hammersmith & Fulham London Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Harrow London Borough Council | no | no |
| Hartlepool Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Havering London Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Herefordshire Council | no | no |
| Hertfordshire County Council | no | no |
| Hillingdon London Borough Council | no | no |
| Hull | no | no |
| Isle of Anglesey County Council | no | no |
| Isle of Wight Council | no | no |
| Isles of Scilly Council | yes | yes |
| Islington London Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Kensington & Chelsea Royal London Borough Council | no | no |
| Kent County Council | yes | yes |
| Kirklees Metropolitan Council | no | no |
| Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Lancashire County Council | yes | yes |
| Leeds City Council | no | yes |
| Leicester City Council | yes | no |
| Leicestershire County Council | no | no |
| Lewisham London Borough Council | no | no |
| Lincolnshire County Council | no | no |
| Liverpool City Council | no | ns |
| Luton Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Manchester City Council | no | no |
| Middlesbrough Council | no | na |
| Milton Keynes Council | no | no |
| Monmouthshire County Council | yes | yes |
| Newcastle upon Tyne City Council | no | no |
| Newham London Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Newport City Council | yes | yes |
| Norfolk County Council | yes | yes |
| North Tyneside | yes | yes |
| North Yorkshire County Council | no | no |
| Northamptonshire County Council | yes | no |
| Northern Commissioning Group (Northern Trust) | yes | no |
| Northumberland Care Trust | yes | yes |
| Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Oxfordshire County Council | no | no |
| Pembrokeshire County Council | no | no |
| Peterborough PCT | no | yes |
| Plymouth City Council | yes | no |
| Poole Borough Council | no | no |
| Portsmouth City Council | yes | yes |
| Powys County Council | no | yes |
| Reading Borough Council | yes | no |
| Redbridge London Borough Council | yes | no |
| Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council | no | no |
| Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Rutland County Council | yes | yes |
| Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Sheffield City Council | no | no |
| Slough Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Somerset County Council | no | no |
| South Gloucestershire Council | no | no |
| Southampton City Council | no | no |
| Southend on Sea Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Southern Commissioning Group (Southern Trust) | yes | yes |
| Southwark Health & Social Care | no | no |
| St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council | no | no |
| Staffordshire County Council | no | no |
| Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council | no | no |
| Stockton on Tees Borough Council | no | no |
| Stoke on Trent City Council | no | no |
| Suffolk County Council | no | yes |
| Sunderland City Council | no | no |
| Surrey County Council | no | no |
| Sutton London Borough Council | no | yes |
| Swansea City & County Council | yes | yes |
| Swindon Borough Council | no | no |
| Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Telford & Wrekin Council | no | no |
| Thurrock Council | yes | yes |
| Torbay Care Trust | yes | no |
| Torfaen County Borough Council | yes | no |
| Tower Hamlets London Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Vale of Glamorgan Council | no | no |
| Wakefield Metropolitan District Council | yes | no |
| Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council | no | no |
| Wandsworth London Borough Council | no | no |
| Warrington Borough Council | yes | no |
| Warwickshire County Council | yes | no |
| West Berkshire Council | yes | yes |
| West Sussex County Council | no | yes |
| Western Commissioning Group (Western Trust) | no | no |
| Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council | no | yes |
| Wiltshire County Council | yes | yes |
| Windsor & Maidenhead Royal Borough Council | no | no |
| Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Wokingham Borough Council | yes | yes |
| Wolverhampton City Council | yes | yes |
| Worcestershire County Council | yes | yes |
| York City Council | yes | yes |
We also asked each council about the information on paying for care that they supplied to self-funders. A large number (87%) arranged a discussion with a council representative, provided information on their website (83%) and in a leaflet (78%), but much of this is about the rules surrounding self-funding and how an individual's assets are assessed, rather than funding strategies to help preserve capital. Far fewer councils (under 25%) gave advice on how to contact an IFA. Fewer still link to specialist advisers- those who hold the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) CF8 qualification and are members of the society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA). To find one of these for yourself, go to FirstStopAdvice.
- To discuss the best retirement option for you, talk to our experts on the Money Helpline
- For guidance on care options see our book Care Options in Retirement
- Take a look at our full investigation into care home standards
