Community Care (Residential Accommodation) Act 1998

1 Restriction on capital taken into account when determining need for residential accommodation

In section 21 of the [1948 c. 29.] National Assistance Act 1948 (duty of local authorities to provide residential accommodation for elderly persons etc. in need of care and attention), after subsection (2) there shall be inserted—

“(2A) In determining for the purposes of paragraph (a) or (aa) of subsection (1) of this section whether care and attention are otherwise available to a person, a local authority shall disregard so much of the person’s capital as does not exceed the capital limit for the purposes of section 22 of this Act.

(2B) For the purposes of subsection (2A) of this section—

(a) a person’s capital shall be calculated in accordance with assessment regulations in the same way as if he were a person for whom accommodation is proposed to be provided as mentioned in subsection (3) of section 22 of this Act and whose ability to pay for the accommodation falls to be assessed for the purposes of that subsection; and

(b) “the capital limit for the purposes of section 22 of this Act” means the amount for the time being prescribed in assessment regulations as the amount which a resident’s capital (calculated in accordance with such regulations) must not exceed if he is to be assessed as unable to pay for his accommodation at the standard rate;

and in this subsection “assessment regulations” means regulations made for the purposes of section 22(5) of this Act.”