An increase in care charges have left some of the Island’s most vulnerable residents feeling lonely and isolated.
In February, the Isle of Wight Council approved changes to the non-residential care charging policy, which means higher and enhanced disability benefit rates are taken into account during means testing for care home services.
Hundreds affected
At the time, it was predicted that the policy would affect 770 Islanders who receive the higher rate of Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independent payments — those receiving the higher rate usually have more severe and restricting disabilities.
They have been charged an extra £27.45, or £1,427 a year. This will net the council more than £934,000 a year.
Although the council said at the time a hardship fund would be made available, those affected said they were unsure how to access help, or even why their charges had been increased.
Zak Hickey
Zak Hickey, 23 lives at home with his mum Amanda Kennedy.
He requires full time care however, his costs have increased from £49 to £76 a week — leaving him unable to pay for his horse riding and sensory classes. These costs will now fall to his mother.
Amanda said she felt he shouldn’t have to undergo a financial assessment by the council:
“He shouldn’t have to explain where he gets his money, he already gets less than someone on job seekers allowance.”
Amanda used to care for Zak full time however, she now works and relies on carers to take care of him during the day, and also to give her one weekend a month respite.
“He gets this extra money from the DWP because they assessed that he needed it to meet his care needs. So why do the Isle of Wight Council feel they are entitled to it?
“Why do they get to take it away?
“I understand they have to fill a hole in their budget, but why are they taking it from such a vulnerable group of people?”
Samara Glover
Twenty-year-old Samara Glover lives independently in her own flat in Newport.
She suffers from hypoplastic lungs and cystic fibrosis and used to receive full time care but her parents began reducing her care to ‘prepare her’ for the budget cut at the start of June.
After that, her weekly payments increased from £102 to £130, and Samara has no choice but to go without care over night.
A few weeks ago, Samara began to feel unwell in the evening and had a temperature because she is unable to regulate her own body temperature.
Samara’s mother, Fliss, asked a carer to stay with her overnight however, she was later told by the council the carer may go unpaid because Samara’s budget no longer covers overnight care.
Fliss said:
“It’s going to have a huge impact on these children. If they have not got the money to go out and do things, it will impact their mental health.
“Samara knows she is different and can’t do what others do, but she’s trying to be as independent as possible.
“If they ever want to go out, they have to pay twice — for them and their carer.
“This increased charges will leave them trapped in the house and unable to go out and socialise.”
Fliss said Samara was looking forward to buying a house, but the increase to her care charges will likely make this impossible.
Tom Buckingham
Tom, 31, lives independently but the changes to his personal budget mean he may have to stop attending Care in the Garden.
He used to use his allowance to pay his carers to drive him, 40p a mile however, now he is faced with having to get public transport everywhere because he cannot afford this.
His mother, Sarah, said Tom finds public transport quite stressful and the increased charges will leave him increasingly house-bound and isolated.
She said:
“He doesn’t understand why he can’t continue doing everything he does. Care in the Garden is the only social thing he does and he gets quite aggressive and annoyed because he does not understand the financial implications.”
Sarah said the family would have to step in and foot the bill for new clothes, and other necessities he may no longer be able to afford.
Lucy Dreyer
Both Lucy and her older brother Tom receive personal budgets. However, because Lucy is registered blind, only she will pay the higher care charges as only she receives a higher rate of disability living allowance.
Lucy’s care charges have now increased from £50 a week to £76.
The 23 and 27 year old live at their home in Newport with parents Caroline and Steve, and both have speech and language difficulties.
Caroline said:
“She recieves that additional money because she needs it. Why is that taken into account?
“She would like to move in with her friends but now this won’t be possible.”
She added that part of the problem is that the families are unclear as to how these new charges were worked out.
Isle of Wight Council responses
Dr Carol Tozer, director of Adult Social Care, said:
“The council updated its policy in relation to higher rate benefits, in line with legislation in the Care Act 2014.
“These benefits exist to help disabled and terminally ill people meet their costs of care – and the levels of payment are determined by different levels of care needs.
“The entirety of someone’s disability-related expenditure must be taken into account and any charges levied by Adult Social Care cannot take someone below the nationally prescribed Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG).
“By implementing these changes, the authority ensured equality in how all disability-related benefit income is treated.”
Mosdell: “Had to make very difficult decisions”
Cllr Clare Mosdell, Cabinet member for Adult Social Care and Public Heath, added:
“The cabinet had to make some very difficult decisions when setting a fair and legal budget for the coming year.
“Adult Social Care, as the largest spending department of the council, had to contribute to overall savings targets, which where £7.5 million this year and a further £16.5 million over the next three years.
“Since March three advisory letters have been sent to all individuals who would be affected.
“These letters explained the changes, the date they would be effective from and how they could apply for a reassessment so that further disability-related expenditure could be included.
“It was recognised that the changes could have an adverse impact on some people, therefore provision was made to work with those whose personal circumstances changed considerably, resulting in hardship.
“The letters advised how they could apply if they felt it was necessary. So far three requests have been made for re-assessments, and none for a hardship payment.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some additions by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: Katrin Albaum under CC BY 2.0
