Perhaps the reason you are having difficulty establishing the criteria is because there are different rules relating to different parts of the UK. In England, people in nursing homes who are paying for their own care will be assessed by the Primary Care Trust which has responsibility for the home. Following this assessment, an amount of £40, £87 or £139 per week will be paid to the nursing home and should be deducted from the fees. This has applied since 1 October 2001.

In Wales, there is no assessment other than the need to receive nursing care, and the fixed amount payable to self-funding residents in nursing homes is £114.90 per week. This came into force in December 2001.

In Scotland, from July 2002 £145 per week is paid for all those requiring personal care and a further £65 per week for those requiring nursing care. However, people in receipt of the personal care contribution will not qualify for Attendance Allowance.

At the time of writing, in Northern Ireland the payment remains at £100 per week.

It has been proposed that from October 2007 there will be a single level of RNCC in England as in the rest of the UK and that the amount will be £101 per week.