'˜Gaping hole' in finances as Yorkshire families struggle to pay social care bills

The GMB, which represents thousands of carers, said information released by councils with care responsibilities in the region show 13,455 people were in arrears on the social care payments to local authorities during the past two years.

Of these, more than 7,300 have debt management procedures in place by the local authority and 53 were taken to court due to non-payment of social care debts..

The union said the true figure is likely to be even higher as some authorities didn’t respond.

GMB national officer, Sharon Wilde, said: “These stark figures show the UK’s social care ticking timebomb has now blown a gaping hole in families’ finances.

“The fact more than 13,000 are in debt because they’re unable to pay for their own care – or that of their loved ones – shows the system just isn’t working.”

She said the ageing population had created “huge demand” for care staff, but low pay, in part due to lack of local authority funding, meant the sector was struggling to recruit and retain staff.

“We need a clear, coherent strategy for funding social care now and in the future,” she said. “Otherwise the struggle to recruit and retain carers will become even more acute, while tens of thousands of people are plunged into debt trying to pay for the level of support that they need.”

Nationally, 166,000 people are in debt to local authorities for their social care, with more than 1,100 taken to court from 2015/16 to 2016/17.

Of the Yorkshire authorities, Doncaster took the highest number of debtors to court over the period - 21. It had 772 people in arrears with just 85 on debt management plans.

Director of people at Doncaster Council, Damian Allen, said court action was “always a last resort”.

He said: “We work with people on an individual basis and offer support, including instalment plans, to enable people to make their assessed contribution and reduce their debt. Our approach to debt recovery is reasonable and sensitive and we will only proceed to court action where all other alternatives have been explored and exhausted.”

In North Yorkshire, 1,354 people fell into arrears over the period, with all but nine placed on a debt management plan. In total, 14 were taken to court.

Corporate director for health and adult services, Richard Webb, said the council did its utmost to ensure those who could not pay for their care got the support and benefits they were entitled to.

He added: “In the past two years, we have helped people in the County to claim over £10m in additional income. We are also mindful of our responsibilities to people who do pay their care fees and to taxpayers across North Yorkshire and, sadly, in a small number of cases, we have to take Court action, albeit as a last resort.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This Government is committed to ensuring everyone receives affordable and dignified care, which is why we backed the sector with an extra £2 billion of dedicated funding, and will shortly outline the Government’s plans to reform social care to ensure it is sustainable for the future.

“The current social care means testing ensures people are charged for their care based on what they can afford. We changed the law so legally the local authority must ensure that people have a genuine choice of accommodation by making at least one option available and affordable within the person’s budget.”