I know and I do not seek to claim that the hon. Lady did not say that, but it is important to assert the fact that in the past deferred payments have been theoretically available in many areas, but without a duty to provide them, they have not been available for many people. My right hon. Friend made the correct point that the protection of individuals and families from having to sell at a moment of distress is what makes this so valuable. Having to sell at the moment when someone goes into care, or soon after, when it has to be done to pay for those care costs, is a deeply unfortunate situation. My right hon. Friend also made the valid point that the availability of a deferred payment may also enable someone to recover and return home, if that is possible.

The Shadow Minister had a go at the Prime Minister and others for the words that they used, but the deferred payment can of course be paid off using other assets; it does not have to be paid off from housing assets following the death of the individual. That is a matter for the beneficiaries to decide, subject—of course—to the amount of money that is available.

The introduction of the universal deferred payment scheme will provide protection and peace of mind for those people who face having to sell their home in their lifetime to meet the cost of their care. Our open approach to this legislation will not cease with the primary legislation completing its passage through Parliament but will continue as we develop regulations and statutory guidance. It will remain as we develop the necessary support to ensure that all local authorities are in the right position to offer deferred payment agreements from April 2015. We will provide this support in a consistent way and we have already committed to making a model scheme available, which directly addresses the shadow Minister’s concern. The guidance will say that local authorities should use the model scheme, unless there is good cause not to use it. In effect, that will mean local authorities have to use it, so we will achieve what she seeks to achieve. I do not believe that any of the amendments are necessary to clarify our commitment to collaborative working or to ensure successful implementation of the reforms in the Bill.

The purpose of Amendment 105 is to provide that any interest or charges on deferred payment agreements would count towards the cap on care costs. Deferred payment agreements do not have any relation to how much a person is expected to contribute towards the cost of their care and nor will they necessarily have any relation to the rate at which a person meters towards the cap. Instead deferred payment agreements are a mechanism that people can choose to use—if they wish to do so—to pay for their care costs. The method by which a person chooses to pay should not affect how much they are expected to pay before they reach the cap. I do not believe that people should meter towards the cap faster  if they choose to pay through a deferred payment agreement than people who choose to pay, for example, through an immediate needs annuity, an insurance policy or, indeed, by selling their home. Why should we benefit one group of people over other groups in reaching the cap faster as a result of counting interest? This is a low-cost loan, giving people a very valuable facility, but they should not be advantaged over and above others in that regard. To do so would simply be unfair and that would be an undesirable result of the amendment.