People in Wales who receive homecare and other non-residential social services will pay a maximum charge of £50 a week for these services from 11 April 2011 following the introduction of a landmark Welsh law, the Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas, announced today.
In Wales, more than 66,000 older and disabled people receive community based social services - such as homecare, day care and other non-residential services - each year. Approximately 14,000 people, who rely on these services to be able to live independently at home, are charged for them.
Currently, there is a wide variation in the charging undertaken and in the level of charges set by local authorities in Wales.
In 2009, the Deputy Minister introduced groundbreaking legislation – the Social Care Charges (Wales) Measure 2010 – to end the postcode lottery and introduce fairness and greater consistency in charging by local authorities for social care provided in the community.
The maximum charge is part of a wider £10.1m per annum ‘First Steps Improvement Package’, being introduced in Wales on 11 April. In addition, this package will:
- prohibit local authorities from charging for the provision of transport to day centres;
- make the existing statutory elements of the Fairer Charging Guidance mandatory. These provide financial safeguards for those on low incomes;
- require authorities to introduce a consistent procedure for reviewing charges within a specific timeframe.
The Welsh Assembly Government is also extending the Direct Payments scheme which allows eligible individuals, who have assessed community care needs, to purchase their own care services. This allows individuals to have greater choice and control over the way the services they receive are delivered and can lead to improved health and well-being outcomes for them and their carers.
Gwenda Thomas said:
"I am delighted to have been able to introduce these landmark measures which will make a real difference to the people who rely on these vital services the most.
"These individuals represent some of the most vulnerable members of our society who, without such services, would have a poorer quality of life, with many being unable to live independently in the community.
"As a Government, we are committed to investing in social care services. Indeed, despite the impact of the UK Government’s cuts to the Welsh budget, the Health and social services budget is going to be protected, in cash terms, in 2011-12. By 2013-14, an extra £35m will be invested in social services in Wales – representing a 3% overall increase – in order to protect the vital services that people rely on. In addition, we are also investing £10.1m a year in these changes to reimburse local authorities for the loss of income through charging.
"The evidence presented to me clearly showed that those who receive these services experience inequity due to the wide inconsistencies that exist in the charging systems operated by local authorities. When we undertook the research, the upper limits for weekly charges for homecare in Wales varied considerably; from £16.20 in Rhondda Cynon Taf to £200 in Neath Port Talbot, and some local authorities in Wales have no upper limit. This is clearly unfair and unacceptable, and that is why I have introduced these significant reforms.
"In one third of local authority areas, people who pay the maximum charge will on average save over £7,000 a year following the introduction of these measures. In other authorities, those on maximum charges will save between £2,000 and £5,000 a year. Many other service users on lower charges will also benefit.
"I would like to thank all those who have been involved in the development of the changes we are introducing including the Coalition on Charging Cymru, who I understand are by coincidence celebrating their 10th anniversary of their formation.
"We are committed to doing all that we can to eradicate inequality wherever it exists – and abolishing the postcode lottery that currently exists within the social care sector is an important step forward in achieving that important aim."
Under the new measures, local authorities will continue to be able to set charges as they consider reasonable. However, this discretion will be subject to specific detailed limitations. Local Authorities will not be obliged to charge and will continue to be able to decide not to charge at all, or to charge less than any requirement in the legislation.
http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/healthandsocialcare/2011/110325socservices/;jsessionid=hg63NQyPPhSn1JTTns6K4hphRb0V5wWVl067TbG0LCktYF28P4yr!1452112521?lang=en
PDF version Welsh care charge cap risks cost increase for councils, report warns
Welsh councils fear a new £50 cap on weekly community care charges will increase costs and demand for services, according to a new report.
The cap on charges for non-residential care, introduced last month, had created a "genuine anxiety" among councils that it will mean "additional pressure on budgets" that are already severely stretched, found the study, published by the Social Services Improvement Agency (SSIA).
Better Support at Lower Cost, by John Bolton, the former social care finance chief at the Department of Health, represents the findings of a year-long programme on achieving greater efficiencies in older people's services in Wales.
Bolton, who wrote an influential paper in 2009 on how English councils can improve value for money in adult social care, warned that the £50 cap restricted Welsh councils' ability to raise more money towards the costs of local services.
It also risked increasing demand for services, particularly from older people who were previously self-funders, and creating a perverse incentive for authorities to place more people in residential care, as they could then recoup more money in charges.
"The implication of this policy is that in Wales councils will need to be even more efficient than their English counterparts," Bolton concluded.
The report called on Welsh councils to adopt strategies to reduce demand for residential and domiciliary care by providing people with better information and advice, and preventive support.
The study revealed that all councils were reshaping their services for older people with a shift towards more reablement and a general reduction in the numbers of older people being cared for in residential services.
However the rate of progress was mixed, and the report found that working relationships between councils and the NHS over the development and implementation of reablement services varied.
The report said that genuine partnerships with health, and the third and private sectors would be important in maximising efficiency and maintains independence for users.
SSIA said it would be taking forward work to improve efficiency in older people's care in two pilots from 2011-12.
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/04/28/116739/councils-sound...
The Welsh Assembly Government’s (WAG) introduction of a new £50 weekly cap on charges for non-residential care services is a “significant step forward” in the fight to abolish all such charges, say campaigners.
In a third of Welsh council areas, disabled and older people who currently pay the maximum charge will save an average of £7,000 a year, while those in other areas will save an average of £2,000 to £5,000 a year.
Current weekly limits on charges vary from £16.20 in Rhondda Cynon Taf to £200 in Neath Port Talbot, while some councils have no upper limits, which the Welsh government said was “clearly unfair and unacceptable”.
The new measure will be implemented from 11 April. It follows the introduction of legislation in 2009 that was aimed at ending the postcode lottery and increasing fairness and consistency in charging.
The move will heighten the contrast with the situation faced by disabled people in England, where some councils are set to increase maximum charges to as much as £250 or even £433 a week.
The Coalition on Charging Cymru (CoCC) welcomed the announcement as it celebrated its tenth anniversary.
It has been campaigning since 2001 for the complete abolition of charges, and said the new measure would mean many disabled people would be better off by thousands of pounds a year.
It said charges were “a secondary and discriminatory tax on people who require support” with tasks such as washing, dressing, and feeding.
Partly due to its campaigning, 3,000 people have been taken out of charging in Wales since 2007, with another 8,000 facing lower charges.
Rhian Davies, chief executive of Disability Wales and CoCC’s chair, said: “The ultimate prize of zero charging is yet to be achieved. However, all involved with CoCC both past and present can be proud that through persistent lobbying it has helped mitigate some of the worst effects of charging in Wales.
“Through this and previous WAG measures many disabled people, older people and carers who are often the hardest hit in any government cutbacks will now be better off than their counterparts in the rest of the UK.”
Gwenda Thomas, deputy minister for social services, said the “landmark measures” on charging would “make a real difference to the people who rely on these vital services the most”.
She said: “We are committed to doing all that we can to eradicate inequality wherever it exists – and abolishing the postcode lottery that currently exists within the social care sector is an important step forward in achieving that important aim.”
http://www.dls.org.uk/rights/News/2011/march/18.html