Pictured above: Sofia Tayton

The Government needs to put in place a fair but robust policy for care of the elderly if the UK is to avoid another crisis, a Midlands expert has warned.

Sofia Tayton, an associate in the private client department at Stratford-upon-Avon-based Lodders was speaking after the law firm hosted a Stratford meeting of the local branch of Solicitors for the Elderly which was attended by guest speaker Jeremy Wright MP, whose constituency of Kenilworth and Southam includes Wellesbourne and Kineton.

Lodders helped to found the organisation, which supports and trains solicitors in providing services for elderly people.

Jeremy Wright has a particular interest in care for the elderly, having formed the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia in 2007.

Sofia Tayton urged the Prime Minister to clarify the Coalition's intentions sooner rather than later.

It follows a new spate of warnings from leading business forecasters:

According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, Britain faces another round of tax rises and spending cuts within a decade to address the "unsustainable" pressure the country's ageing population is putting on the economy.

The number of over-65s is expected to rise to 14.2 million by 2024, the Adam Smith Institute predicted, noting that commitments on healthcare, welfare, pensions and education "could result in a fiscal crisis in the UK along Irish lines as early as 2019".

Cass Business School called for a new range of financial products to meet and help pay for future care needs including a form of premium bonds called long-term care bonds and a type of equity-release mortgage.

Mrs Tayton, a member of the Care for the Elderly team at Lodders who specialises in continuing NHS healthcare, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection matters, said: "It is the cost of care for the elderly which is my biggest concern, as we currently have to battle through a system that doesn't always seem to be fair and which already places a financial strain on both the National Health Service and on local authorities. 

"However any funding overhaul needs to be thought through very carefully. Should it be 'front loaded' so that we start paying for our future care early on in life? And if that is the case, how do we ensure that those who currently need care or those who will need care in the next 20 years are properly provided for?"

And she said the Government also needed much tighter control over what money they made available for spending on care provision. 

"For example, £150 million that has been allocated by the National Dementia Strategy for England and paid to Primary Care Trusts around the country wasn't ring-fenced. There are reports it has not, therefore, always been used for the dementia-related issues it was intended for. It is clear that we cannot afford this approach any longer."

Prior to the General Election, Labour proposed a compulsory means-tested 10 per cent levy on estates with an alternative of a lump sum payment of around £20,000 either on retirement or on death. The Conservative plan was for an £8,000 charge at age 65 as a one-off insurance payment in exchange for the cost of care being met in future years.

Mrs Tayton pointed out that care home fees typically amount to between £25,000 and £45,000 a year.

"Care of the elderly remains a burning issue.

"As people get older they worry how they are going to cope, they worry about the burden put on carers, often members of their own family, and they worry about how they can possibly meet the cost of care homes. Meanwhile the politicians worry about how the nation can afford it all.

"The Government needs to put in place sensible and fair reforms," she said.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has appointed an independent commission to consider the whole funding issue. Chaired by economist Andrew Dilnot, it is expected to report next year.

For more information about Lodders, please visit their website here: www.lodders.co.uk