Hampshire County Council proposes plans to charge 12,000 people more for care

Hampshire County Council has launched a public consultation into the proposed changes

Proposals to make about 12,000 people in Hampshire pay more for their care in a bid to save £1.5m have been announced by the county council.

The authority said it needed to make savings in adult social care of £43.1m by 2018.

It has asked people to give their views on the plans as part of a public consultation.

Councillor in charge of adult social care, Liz Fairhurst said the changes would be "appropriate and fair".

The proposals are:

• Charging people for the cost of both of their carers, if they need two during a home care visit and they have been assessed as being able to afford to pay for both

• Taking into account 100% of a person's disposable income, rather than the current 95%, when assessing how much they can afford to contribute towards the cost of support they receive to continue living independently

• Charging residents in council-run residential and nursing homes for periods of absence, in the same way as they are charged in private homes

• Taking into account income people receive from letting out their own homes when assessing how much they should pay towards their care costs under the council's Deferred Payment Scheme

Ms Fairhurst said the changes were needed because the council's funding had been "roughly halved in recent years" by central government.

She added that the changes would "help offset some of the cost of providing support to a growing population of older people and adults with complex care needs".

A spokeswoman said even if the changes went ahead, people assessed as being unable to afford to contribute anything towards their care will still receive it for free.

The public consultation closes on 26 August.