Consultation starts on Telford and Wrekin social care charge plans

The consultation is due to last 11 weeks

Proposals to increase social care costs in Telford and Wrekin are going out to public consultation.

About half of those receiving help are likely to see their costs go up, the council said.

The consultation will last about 11 weeks and people affected are expected to be contacted to work out a financial assessment.

The Labour-run council said it was committed to ensuring people were not charged more than they could afford.

In total, the net budget for adult social care services in the borough this year was £62m, over 40% of the council's total net budget, the local authority said.

Councillor Paul Watling, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Systems, said it was due to "less government funding and a growing demand for social care services from an ageing population and from people with complex support needs".

Mr Watling added it was becoming increasing challenging to cover the rising costs of care provision, despite the council investing an extra £7.26m into adult social care this year.

"We are therefore proposing changes to our adult social care charges to bring them in line with national guidelines and those of other local authorities," he added.

The BBC has approached the Department of Health and Social Care for a response.

In its August 2022 report on the long-term funding of adult social care, the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee called on the government to "urgently... allocate more funding to adult social care in the order of several billions each year, at least £7bn".

Out of the 1,882 people who receive chargeable care in Telford and Wrekin, 943 could be affected by one or more of the above proposed changes, the Local Democracy Reporting Services said.

Some changes could see:

• More than 900 people given an increased contribution towards their adult social care - if financially able to

• People who have a council-funded community alarm could have a new monitoring and administration fee of £15 a month, this could affect 680 users

• More than 240 people claiming the highest rate of Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance Care component, could end up paying £33.65 more a week

• A £300 set-up charge and an annual administration charge of £182 (£3.50 weekly) could affect 33 people

• The possible introduction of a weekly administrative charge of £10 potentially affecting 122 people

Conservative group leader, councillor Andrew Eade said the changes would "only add to the cost-of-living pressures for vulnerable and often elderly members of our community".

Mr Watling said: "Our goal is to continue to deliver the highest standard of care to people who use our social care services, while ensuring that their contributions to the care they receive are affordable and based on their individual circumstances."

Pending the outcome of the consultation, the changes are proposed to come into effect from January 2024, he added.