Queen's speech: Social care reform announced

New legislation to put in place a £72,000 cap on social care costs and a set of wide-ranging reforms to councils' care services has been announced in the Queen's speech.

The speech outlined plans for legislation that would "reform the way long-term care is paid for, to ensure the elderly do not have to sell their homes to meet their care bills."

It follows the announcement of a draft care and support bill in last year's Queen's speech. Many of the measures from the draft bill are expected to be included in the new legislation, such as a standardised national threshold for determining whether an individual is eligible for support from a local authority and a duty for councils to inform residents about care provision. There will also be a new right for carers to receive support from local authorities.

Other measures announced in the speech included......