The UK prime minister, Gordon Brown, has announced a plan to provide free social care for adults with the most serious needs, which will allow them to stay in their own homes.

Speaking to the Labour party conference in Brighton, Mr Brown said that the current financial burden on people who need social care is unfair. The plans are a forerunner to a more comprehensive National Care Service, which is being developed by government.

“The people who face the greatest burden are too often those on middle incomes, who have savings that will last a year or two, but then they will see their savings slip away,” he said. …