Councils must help care home providers plug a £1.7bn funding gap over the next three years to cover the costs of meeting basic standards, a report commissioned by BUPA has reported today.

Entitled 'A Fair Deal', the analysis by Laing Buisson shows average weekly fees of £464 per person will need to rise between 5% - 8%, by as much as £41, in response to fees paid by councils falling nearly 4% in real terms over the last two years.