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You and Yours: Care home uncertainty, Term time holidays, Student sub-lets

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20/06/2016

Care home uncertainty, Term time holidays, Student sub-lets

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Care home uncertainty, Term time holidays, Student sub-lets

A look at how families are coping with the financial uncertainty of the care home industry

An investigation into the likelihood of parents being fined for taking children on term-time holidays, which research suggests in on the rise, after a court found for one father.

At a time of great uncertainty in the care home industry, we take a look at how it is financed and what are the implications for people who live in these homes and their families. HC-One - one of Britain's biggest providers - is currently looking for buyers for about 70 of its homes in an attempt to reduce its debt. Meanwhile the credit rating agency, Moody's, has issued warnings about two other private equity-owned care home chains, Four Seasons and Care UK. Is private equity the right way to fund adult care?

Recently the High Court supported a father who'd taken his daughter to Florida during term time. He successfully argued that she still attended school regularly. Now some new research suggests one in five families is planning to take a break outside of school holidays. But does the High Court ruling really mean they can expect to escape the £120 fine? And what of claims that councils are deciding arbitrarily whether or not to pursue these cases in court? Find out before you book. 

And as university life winds down for the summer, we talk to a student who still has to pay for his room over the summer as his landlord insists on 50-week contracts. Is there any solution? And why you shouldn't be tempted to sub-let without permission, even if some companies might try to persuade you to do that.

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