Shock and dismay over Welsh government’s care charge hike

Disabled campaigners say they are “shocked and dismayed” by the Welsh government’s plans to allow local authorities to increase the maximum weekly amount that disabled people can be charged for their non-residential care by 20 per cent.

The government said in a consultation document that it was examining three options for the cap on charges – increases of £15, £20 and £25 per week – but suggested that £20 was an “appropriate” increase.

A £20 rise would increase the maximum weekly charge – currently £100 – to £120 and raise about £9.6 million extra per year for local authorities.

It claimed that if charges increased in 2024-25, “only individuals who have the financial means to pay” would do so.

But Disability Wales, the national disabled people’s organisation, which opposes all care charges, said it was “shocked and dismayed” by the announcement.

In England, there are no central government-imposed caps on care charges.

The consultation document says the Welsh government needs to address “the financial pressures on local authorities due to inflation and rising demand for care and support services”.

Currently, a third of adults in Wales who receive non-residential care and support services from their local council pay the maximum weekly charge of £100.

The announcement comes even though Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru have expressed a “shared ambition” to set up a National Care Service that would offer free social care, with an initial implementation plan published in December 2023.

The new consultation document claims: “Whilst raising the maximum weekly cap for non-residential care and support services is an initial departure from the vision to create a National Care Service ‘free at the point of need’, the additional revenue this would raise for local authorities to continue to deliver social care and support services would ensure we can uphold our commitment to long-term, sustainable change.”

It adds: “We remain committed to our vision for the National Care and Support Service in Wales, whilst also striking the balance between immediate pressures and long-term sustainable solutions.”

Disability Wales said the “minimum income amount” that the Welsh government says service-users must not fall below after paying any care charges was already “insufficient to meet the real costs of disability in addition to daily living costs”.

It said that increasing the cap on charges would “only exacerbate this and cause greater hardship, with some potentially opting out of receiving support”.

Rhian Davies (pictured), chief executive of Disability Wales, said: “As a member of the expert group that advised Welsh government on the development of a National Care Service that is free at the point of need, I am appalled that any consideration is being given to increasing non-residential care charges.

“It seems that the pressures on local government finances are being prioritised over the financial pressure on thousands of disabled people for whom social care support is a necessity but have limited means to pay for it.

“It is difficult to see from the proposals how Welsh government can guarantee the claim that only individuals who have the financial means to pay an increased maximum weekly charge will do so.”

Last year, Disability Wales reported that disabled people were already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

The Barely Surviving report found that disabled people in Wales had been “systematically” let down by the UK and Welsh governments during the “devastating” cost-of-living crisis, and that disabled people were “slipping through the cracks and struggling on their own” because of a lack of “joined up support” between the NHS, local authorities and the Welsh government.

Megan Thomas, policy and research officer for Disability Wales, highlighted the proposed increased cap on charges at a parliamentary meeting organised by Disabled People Against Cuts (see separate story), on the same day the Welsh government’s consultation was published.

She told Monday’s meeting the proposal was “something that we are fighting against”.

The consultation is due to end on 13 May.

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