England care means test ignores Irish scheme payments

This sounds technical, but the rule itself is quite plain. The Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 were made on 15 September 2026, laid before Parliament on 16 September 2026, and come into force on 30 October 2026. Their main effect is that local authorities must leave certain Irish scheme payments out of adult social care charging assessments in England. (policyindex.ai) When we strip away the schedule numbers, the message is simple: if you have received a payment under Ireland's Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, that money should not be used by a council as a reason to ask you for more towards care. The change sits inside the Care Act charging rules that councils use when they decide what someone can afford to pay. (policyindex.ai)

GOV.UK's Care and support statutory guidance explains that, once a local authority decides to charge for care, it must carry out a financial assessment of what a person can afford to contribute. In that assessment, the council looks at income and capital and must follow the rules on what counts and what has to be disregarded. (gov.uk) **What this means:** income is money coming in; capital is savings or other assets. These 2026 regulations matter because they cover both. If the law ignored only one side, a survivor's payment could still affect the bill at another stage of the assessment. (gov.uk)

The legal edit is small, but it does a lot of work. The statutory instrument adds a new paragraph 44A to Schedule 1 of the 2014 regulations so these Irish scheme payments are disregarded as income, and a new paragraph 44 to Schedule 2 so they are also disregarded as capital. The explanatory note says that is what local authorities must do for charging purposes. (policyindex.ai) That matters because redress payments often arrive as a lump sum. Without a specific disregard, money meant to recognise serious historic harm can be treated like ordinary savings. This amendment makes clear that, in English social care charging, that should not happen here. (policyindex.ai)

The Irish Statute Book says the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme was created by the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023. The Act says the scheme was established to make payments and provide certain health supports to people who spent time in relevant institutions. (irishstatutebook.ie) Revenue in Ireland describes it as a statutory scheme for people who spent time in certain mother and baby institutions or county home institutions. A House of Commons Library briefing says the supports include general payments, work-related payments and health support, and notes that total compensation can range from €5,000 to €125,000. GOV.UK has also said some recipients of these payments now live in Great Britain. (revenue.ie)

It is worth being careful about scope. These regulations are about adult social care charging, not every means-tested rule in the UK all at once. The instrument itself says it extends to England and Wales, but it sits under the social care rules used by local authorities for charging purposes in England. (policyindex.ai) **What it does not do:** it does not settle every welfare question by itself. Separate GOV.UK guidance says the UK Government decided, from 13 March 2026, to disregard these payments as capital for income-related benefits including Pension Credit, Universal Credit and Housing Benefit on an ex-statutory basis until legislation is in place. That is related, but it is a different route from this social care amendment. (gov.uk)

Why does this exemption matter? Because means tests can turn compensation into a penalty. The Care and support statutory guidance makes clear that local authorities use income and capital to work out what a person can afford, and the House of Commons Library has already pointed out that, unless a payment is specifically disregarded, a cash award held as savings can affect means-tested help. (gov.uk) For survivors, that principle is not abstract. A payment made in response to institutional abuse or mistreatment is supposed to recognise harm, not quietly reduce support later. This amendment lines the social care rules up with that basic idea. (irishstatutebook.ie)

The explanatory note says no full impact assessment was produced because no significant effect on private, voluntary or public sectors was expected. That is standard government language, but the individual effect can still be important: from 30 October 2026, a council financial assessment should treat these payments as protected in both the income and capital calculations. (policyindex.ai) If you or your family are checking a financial assessment after 30 October 2026, the practical question is a simple one: has the payment been left out everywhere it should be? GOV.UK guidance says councils should give people a written record of the financial assessment, which gives survivors and families something clear to check against the law. (gov.uk)