People who use the council's home care services will be asked for their views on possible changes to their charges, if decision-makers give the go-ahead next week.
Members of the council's Executive will decide whether to give the public consultation the green light at their meeting on 7 September 2006.
The costs of looking after people in their own home are paid for mainly by taxpayers, including council tax payers. In Islington, as elsewhere, only about 10% of the costs of care are actually paid by the service users through their charges. Discussions about increases to care charges are fuelled by concerns about making sure that this large public subsidy is targeted effectively so that more people with the lowest incomes can get help they need.
Cllr John Gilbert, Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Services, said: "The present scale of care charges and the subsidy levels provided by the council need to be kept under regular review. We want to consult users, the voluntary sector and other interested groups on how to rationalise the charges so that we help those who really need it but ask those who can afford to pay more to make a larger contribution towards the cost of their care. If a new system of care charges is implemented as a result of the consultation it will undoubtedly mean increases for some users, although there will be reductions for others and many will not be affected. Ideally, of course, we would never have to make tough decisions like increasing charges for care for anyone- sadly we don't live in a perfect world and have limited resources which we must use as fairly and as effectively as we can.
"The proposals we will be putting forward for consultation are estimated to produce an overall increase in charge income of £450,000 which we will reinvest in the service to help even more people to continue living independently at home.
"Research from Age Concern and public policy think tanks, tell us that people want to continue living independently at home for as long as possible. Our Adult Social Services Department has responded to this with vigour, so much so that it has been praised by the government for promoting independence. The number of people in Islington receiving intensive home care to help them live independently exceeds national targets - we are good at providing home care services.
"All of our service users are subsidised to some extent, with no-one paying more than £275 towards their care, even if they have very high levels of savings. We simply cannot afford to continue to subsidise a growing number of people who receive home care services but are themselves able to make a contribution towards the costs."
In looking at whether the subsidy is properly targeted, the council will also ensure that the charges remain fair and affordable. Less than half of the 2,000 people in Islington getting home care services contribute towards the costs of those services. It is accepted that most of these people are unable to afford charges and the proposed changes will not affect those who cannot afford to pay. The changes are expected to lead to significant increases for only a small minority of service users: only 9% are expected to face an increase of more than £20 a week and the consultation will also ask for comments about how those facing significant increases should be helped.
The council is also intending to reduce the impact for people who may be affected by encouraging people of 60 and over to claim all benefits to which they are entitled. It will be actively doing this by providing a one to one home visiting service which will help the most vulnerable people claim benefits to which they may be entitled.
People of 60 and over should contact Islington Benefits Service on 0207 527 4990 for information and advice about benefits they may be entitled to as well as getting help to complete claim forms.
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Page Last Updated: 29 July 2008