Review of social care charges begins

A CONSULTATION is starting over a review of contributions for adult social care in Liverpool.

Charges for social care are set locally under national guidelines issued by the Department of Health.

Fairer Contributions, says the council, is designed to make sure that no groups are disadvantaged by the policy and it treats everyone equally.

The council is consulting on the following proposals: 

* Taking into account individual housing costs when carrying out a financial assessment, rather than the current blanket 10 percent disregard of the net assessable income. We believe this will more accurately reflect people’s financial position and some people will end up paying less. 

* Removing the capped contribution of £222.13 per week on the basis that it disproportionately benefits people with the highest income. 

* Introducing a standard flat-rate charge of £20 per week for services until a financial assessment is completed, to bring Liverpool in line with other local authorities where, it says, the average charge is twice as high. 

* Introducing charges for telecare (£2 per week), medication prompts (£2.50 per prompt) and one-off services such as storage or cleaning. 

* Charging for home care in 15 minute blocks rather than 30 minutes so people are charged more accurately for the time they receive care for. 

* Two proposals are also being considered for charges to other services such as homecare, community support and day services. The city council subsidises services by between 11 and 82 percent. The options are: Increasing ALL charges by three percent OR reducing the amount of subsidy and increasing charges for those that currently receive a subsidy of more than 50 percent. 

'Concern'

More than half of the 5,407 who receive services – 2,935 - are not expected to be affected, says the council. A further 2,083 people who already make a contribution are likely to be asked to pay more, and it is thought that 389 people will have to start making a contribution towards their care for the first time.

Assistant Mayor and Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, Councillor Roz Gladden, said: “I completely understand that any changes to contributions for social care will naturally cause concern, which is why we are going out to consultation.

Roz Gladden“What we are trying to do is make sure that our policy is as fair as it possibly can be. Over half of the people who receive services will not be adversely affected and some people may even end up paying less due to the way in which we assess housing costs.

“It is also important to remember that the total cost of the service provided is still heavily subsidised by the council and payments are only a contribution towards the cost of care.

“We want to make sure we give people all the information that they need and any questions they have which is why we are holding information sessions across the city.”