Councillors asked to back talks on increasing charges for care

At present nobody who needs non-residential care in the district pays the full cost of their care no matter what their income or savings - but council bosses say this cap restricts the income the council gets at a time when demand for social care for the elderly is increasing.

Today senior members of Kirklees Council will be asked to agree to the authority beginning public talks on the proposed changes.

A report to members of the council’s cabinet committee says: “Currently in Kirklees no-one, regardless of how much income or savings they have and how much support they receive, pays more than £205 per week or 67 per cent of their personal budget whichever is the lower.

“This means that people who can afford to pay more are being asked to contribute at the same rate as people with modest incomes and savings.”

Councillors will be told that this is very different to the contributions people who are living in residential care have to make.

“Under government regulations, there is no upper limit on the amount a person has to pay towards their care home costs – if they have the resources to pay they have to pay.

The report to members of the council’s cabinet committee says: “As well as impacting unfairly on people with lower incomes and savings, the current policy is restricting the amount of income the council gets which is, in turn, impacting on the overall level of resources available to:

Deliver the complex packages of care required to enable frail and severely disabled individuals to remain living at home.

Further develop prevention and early intervention services which would delay or possibly prevent the need for intensive packages of care in the future and maintain people’s health and wellbeing for longer.”

Councillors will be told that if the authority is to continue supporting the most vulnerable people it needs to raise extra cash at a time of budget cutbacks and at a time when the elderly population is increasing. Services are also provided to the disabled.

It is proposed the cap of £205 a week will be removed and charges will be made taking into account a 100 per cent of an individual’s personal budget, rather than the current 67 per cent.

The extra cost to individuals will be different depending upon how much they have been assessed as being able to pay.

Council bosses expect that the move could raise £500,000 a year and say the move could affect 1,026 people, or 42.5 per cent of service users.

Of the 1,026 people that would be affected, 95 per cent would be in the 65+ age group and five per cent would be in the 18-64 age group. 65 per cent would be female and 35 per cent would be male.

The authority says it has contacted 20 other councils to see what charges they currently make. Of the 20, Kirklees currently charges the lowest percentage of a person’s budget, at 67 per cent. Twelve of the 20 charge 100 per cent.

The report adds: “Removing the subsidy from non residential care support would remove the inequality between this group of people and people who are living in residential care who receive no subsidy towards the cost of their care. It would also reduce the inequality that exists between those people who have modest incomes and savings and who have to pay at the same rate as those with higher incomes and savings.”

If councillors give the green light to public consultations on the issue, it is anticipated that the outcome will be reported back to members of the council’s cabinet committee in February.

If the changes are agreed it is expected that they would be introduced by the authority from April next year.

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