Some social care charges set to soar as council tackles cash cuts

At present the maximum weekly charge for adult social care in Sheffield is £114.69 per week, but the city council said yesterday it planned to introduce a new maximum of £350 a week from late October.

According to senior councillors and officers, only a third of the 5,000 people who receive assistance will be affected, but they admitted that meant about 1,500 people would be forced to pay extra.

Councillor Mary Lea, the authority’s cabinet member for social care said she “regretted” having to force through the changes, which she said had originally been drawn up by her Liberal Democrat predecessors.

But she insisted that charging those who could “afford to pay” would protect council front-line services, which are facing £220m reductions over four years as a result of Westminster austerity measures.

Coun Lea also criticised the coalition Government for “cutting too far and too fast” and claimed that the new administration had no option but to follow officers recommendations to increase contributions.

She said: “Back in March, when the Lib Dems controlled the council, they passed a budget with a planned increase of £1.45m in income from increased contributions for non-residential social care.

“We are very regretful that we have to do this but unfortunately we have been left in a position where the only alternative to doing this would have been to impose cuts on front line services.

”The Government is cutting too far, too fast, this year alone there were £80m of cuts imposed on the council by the Government and over four years the total cut in funding is £220m.

“These changes to charging for care are the direct result of the Government’s policy to hit severe spending cuts on local people.”

Until now, an elderly person with more than £23,250 in the bank, who required personal care worth £400 a week, would have paid the maximum weekly charge of £114.69 per week or £458.76.

Under the new measures, that figure will rocket to the new maximum charge of £350 a week - an increase of £235.31 per week or £941.24 a month, more than twice their earlier bill.

At present Sheffield Council also calculates contributions for social care based on 70 per cent of the total cost, meaning that somebody with £23,250 who needed £100 worth of care a week would pay £70.

But the percentage will now increase to 100 per cent, meaning that people who exceed the savings threshold will be forced to pay all their care costs up to the maximum £350 charge.

Coun Lea added: “A balanced budget for 2011/12 was and still is predicated on securing £1.45m in additional income through these additional contributions.

“Officers are recommending that in order to make the saving identified in the budget, the weekly maximum contribution be raised to £350 per week and the percentage support costs used in calculations be raised to 100 per cent.

“I am extremely regretful that the cabinet is being recommended to impose such a big increase in contributions to care on service users.

“However, as the decision to take £1.45m from the budget in this area has already been taken, the only way of avoiding this increase would be for the council to identify £1.45m of cuts elsewhere.

“Despite the increase in contribution levels, only those who can afford to pay more will do so, and only a small number of people will see big rises. The average weekly increase is £14.12.

“The council has made a commitment that there will be no further significant changes to contributions in the next two years.”