Increased social care costs for elderly and vulnerable set to be approved in North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire County Council is set to hike the cost of transport for people who travel for care services after a public consultation was held on cost-cutting measures.

People who pay for more than one care worker to visit them in their own homes could also pay more under the changes, expected to be approved by councillors at a meeting on May 14.

Currently, there is a £2.80 flat daily rate for transport, which the council said falls short of covering its total spend.

From September, the daily rate will be scrapped and service users will pay £5 per journey, capped at £30 per week.

Transport costs will increase further in April 2021, rising to £7.50 per journey and a weekly cap of £40.

Costs could also increase for some people who have two visiting carers looking after them because the council currently only includes the cost of one care worker when deciding how much people pay.

A report to the county council's Health and Adult Services and Excutive Member Meeting said: "During the consultation we stressed that anyone’s actual contribution would only change if the amount they are able to pay is currently more than what they actually pay.

"If someone is already paying the maximum they can afford, there will be no increase to them."

More than 400 people responded to a public consultation on the proposals and more than 4,000 letters were sent to people who use the services.

The county council has said the rising cost of providing adult social care now takes up almost 45 per cent of its entire budget.

County Councillor Michael Harrison, Executive Member for Adult Services and Health Integration, said: "Nationally, there is an expectation that those people who can afford to pay towards the cost of their social care services do so – and some of our charges have not been reviewed for almost a decade.

“So, we have consulted with residents and service providers on two proposals around transport costs and contributions to the full cost of care. The main impact is on people who have two care workers supporting them at the same time - as the Council currently only includes the cost of one of those workers in how much it charges."