Charges for home-based social care in Leeds set to rise

According to proposals passed this week by Leeds city councillors, home-based adult social care costs will no longer be capped at £482-a-week, and charges would instead be assessed on how much a household can afford to pay.

Changes also mean individuals will now be charged for two carers if they require them – the council only currently charges for one.

The authority hopes this will help save between £2m and £4m a year, as continuing cost pressures on the authority take their toll.

According to the council’s ruling Labour group, the new plans will ensure nobody would pay more than they can afford.

But a senior opposition councillor warned any sharp price increases could push some vulnerable people to go without care, leading to problems for the NHS further down the line.

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The comments came during a meeting of Leeds City Council’s Executive Board this week, after a paper from council officers recommended removing the maximum assessed charge cap of £482-a week, with charges increasing incrementally over nine months.

The council’s executive board member in charge of adult social care Coun Fiona Venner (Lab) said: “Increasing social care charges is not a decision we take lightly – it is in the context of the council losing £2bn over 10 years.

“Adult and children’s social care has been very protected and now represents 63 per cent of the council’s budget.

“Unlike the NHS, social care is not free at the point of use, it is provided on the premise that we pay for social care, and the state only steps in if people can’t afford this.

“Nobody will be asked to pay more than they can afford.”

Around 266 people across the city are expected to be affected by this change. She warned that, if the savings were not made, the money would have to be found from other services.

Coun Venner added: “This proposal is removing sibsidies. Currently people on lower incomes are paying the maximum they can afford, while those with the highest incomes are having their contributions capped.

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“As this affects a relatively small number of people, we can monitor each case. Charges can be waived in individual cases if this causes hardship.”

According to the document, the asset of someone’s house will not be included in the proposals, while a person’s savings of below £14,250 will also be discounted in calculating the charges. The highest hypothetical example given in the council document involved an individual paying an extra £647 a week.

Coun Alan Lamb said: “How many people will have to pay more in this? Around five percent are expected to have to pay more. If we are expecting £4m to be raised from such a small proportion of people, this could mean getting a substantial amount of money.

“I find it difficult to believe whatever your level of income, someone is going to hand over £650-a-week and not bat an eyelid.

“Will families change their behaviour? Is there a danger that this has a knock on impact to health services if more people decide they cannot afford care at home?”

Coun Venner responded: “This is about a saving we need to make that if we don’t make here, we will have to make it somewhere else. It would come out of community based preventative services.

“This is about working with families and providing support, and making sure we don’t have unintended consequences as a result.”

She added it would still be cheaper to keep people at home rather than moving to residential care.

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