A disabled people’s organisation has warned its local council that plans to increase care charges for many residents by nearly £34 a week could have “devastating consequences” and “wreak havoc” on the lives of thousands of service-users.
The proposal, which will only affect those who receive care and support at home, could increase the amount paid by disabled people in the county by £3.5 million a year.
Conservative-run Kent County Council has launched consultations on this and another measure, each of which is designed to squeeze more revenue from disabled people who rely on care and support, in a bid to help it close an £85 million funding gap.
The changes could affect many of the nearly 16,000 disabled people who receive social care in their own homes from the council.
Disability Assist said the care charge policy “threatens to significantly burden those of us who rely on these services, potentially wreaking havoc on the financial stability of thousands of Kent residents”.
It has become the latest disabled people’s organisation to raise serious concerns about proposals by a local authority to try to help address a financial crisis by increasing charges on people who use council-funded care and support services.
It is calling on disabled people across the county to join the fight against the new measures by responding to the council’s consultations.
Sophie Fournel (pictured, centre, in white shirt), chief executive of Disability Assist, told Disability News Service (DNS) that the changes would increase the number of disabled people who are finding themselves in debt to the council because they cannot afford their care charges.
She said: “We are already working with people who do not understand the charges or contributions they need to make towards their care and support packages.
“People who are desperate for care and are agreeing to it and then find themselves in debt, surprised when they receive invoices.
“We are also aware of people who are not accessing adult social care because they do not feel that they can afford it and are, therefore, isolated and unable to lead an active life, unable to do the things that they want to do.
“The proposed changes will make this worse and impact even more people.”
One of the two council proposals would see it taking into account – for the first time – the income received from the higher rate of attendance allowance (AA), the enhanced rate of the daily living element of personal independent payment (PIP), and the higher rate of the care component of disability living allowance (DLA), when deciding how much someone should pay towards their care costs.
This could mean care charges rising by nearly £34 a week for many residents.
Currently the council only takes account of the lower AA rate, the standard PIP daily living rate and the middle rate of the DLA care component.
The council’s other proposal is to introduce a one-off fee of £352 for those disabled people who can self-fund their care, but who want the council to start negotiating, arranging and managing services on their behalf.
This measure would cost disabled people in the county in total an estimated £140,800 extra a year in council fees.
Fournel said she was “very concerned about the impact these changes could have on disabled people in Kent”.
She said: “The current cost of living means that disabled people are needing to use their income from PIP and other benefits to help cover their utility bills and everyday expenses as it is.
“This will take even more from them and push people into or further into poverty.”
She said this would leave disabled people “less able to lead a full and inclusive life” and without the resources they need to be able to do the things that their non-disabled peers take for granted, “taking away their choice and control and ultimately their independence”.
She said: “We cannot stress enough the importance of local residents participating in the consultation process.
“Their feedback will play a crucial role in shaping policies that directly affect the lives of all who rely on adult social care.”
In response to the consultations, Disability Assist has sent an open letter raising its concerns to Kent County Council’s head of adult social care.
In the letter, Disability Assist’s chair, Clive Bassant, warns that the charity has seen a “dramatic increase in referrals and requests for help” in the last year, even before the proposed measures are introduced.
He also sent the council comments made by disabled people in response to its proposals.
One said: “People are going without their basic needs being met, without food or heating because they can’t afford the contribution that you require.”
Another said: “Are you waiting for deaths through lack of care or potential suicides… before you will listen to our concerns?”
A third disabled person said: “Historically disabled people have fought long and hard to get changes to be considered equal members of society, which includes being allowed to live our own lives with dignity and choice.
“Incredibly sadly, it’s like we are moving backwards again, not forward.”
A Kent County Council spokesperson said that 9,623 disabled people could be affected by the care charges proposals, but she refused to say if this was the number whose charges would increase, or to say how many would pay the full £34 a week.
She said it was “not possible to know how many people would be likely to pay the new self-funding fee” although there were 400 new self-funders in 2023.
She said: “The concerns raised in the open letter received from Disability Assist will be closely considered alongside all other consultation responses.”
But the council refused to explain how it justified making disabled people pay even more for their care and support in the middle of both a cost-of-living and a social care crisis.
Instead, it directed DNS to a press release, in which Dan Watkins, the council’s cabinet member for public health and adult social care, said: “We’re facing ever-increasing demands for complex care services, rising costs of care and a lack of adequate funding from central government.
“It means that, along with many other councils in England, we’re having to make tough decisions and find ways to ensure our services are sustainable for the future.
“2014’s Care Act gave local authorities the power to change their charging policies to take in account higher, or enhanced, rates of disability benefits when assessing the contribution some people should make towards their care – subject to consulting and carrying out an equality impact assessment.
“A number of councils have subsequently since done so.
“Our set-up fee for self-funding care arrangements is also among the lowest local authority fees in the country and has not been reviewed since it was introduced in 2017.”
The consultations on care charges and self-funding fees both end at midnight on 7 April.
*Formerly known as Centre for Independent Living Kent
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