Cash-strapped Derbyshire council considers sweeping cost-saving changes for adult care

One option under consideration by Conservative-controlled Derbyshire County Council to help sustain the system includes dramatically lowering its entitlement cash-figure limit based on people’s existing financial capital by more than half from £50,000 to £23,250 to decide who is eligible for support.

The council currently allows a generous £50,000 capital and disposable income limit for those who benefit from the local authority’s subsidised care services but if – as is proposed – this limit is reduced to £23,250 only those possessing less than this reduced figure may be eligible for subsidised council care – leaving many concerned about how they will pay for support.

Councillor Natalie Hoy, the county council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Care, said: “We’re committed to supporting people to remain independent at home for longer but we must also ensure our adult care support is sustainable and supports those people who need it most – now and in the future.

“For many years we’ve charged people significantly less for the care they receive in their community than is allowed for under the nationally set guidelines and which are applied by most other councils.

“We currently expect to receive income of just over £10m in the next financial year but the actual cost of caring for people is £127m and this is simply not sustainable.

“We have to make difficult decisions about how to continue to deliver high-quality services while managing external pressures on our budgets.”

Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet is due to consider the proposals at its meeting on December 7 and the council has stressed any changes to its community care charging policy are aimed at making the service more sustainable and to ensure the council can protect those who need the most support.

Its adult social care supports the elderly, those with illnesses, disabilities and mental incapacities, and the council has been considering three complicated overall options but it has stated these proposals will not affect anyone living permanently in a residential or nursing home.

One proposed option includes introducing the national capital limit of £23,250 which means anyone who has more than this figure will have to pay for their own support.

As part of this option the council is also considering charging the national tariff income of £1 in every £250 for those with capital between £14,250 – £23,250, and charging on 100per cent of a disposable income with a £20 a week discount known as a disability related expenditure disregard.

A second option would be the same as the first option but would include a charge on 90per cent of a disposable income with a £20 a week disability related expenditure disregard discount.

And a third option is also largely the same as the first but would include a charge on 80per cent of a disposable income with a £20 a week disability related expenditure disregard discount.

More than 2,300 people have already had their say during a recent public consultation on the proposed options to change the charging policy for residents receiving adult social care support in the community.

Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet members will now be asked to decide upon the policy report at a meeting on December 7 before agreeing a recommendation to approve a revised charging policy which the council feels would be more in line with the limits allowed within national charging guidelines and those applied by many local authorities across the country.

The report states that the council has historically charged people receiving community care significantly lower rates than allowed for in the national charging guidelines and at a much lower rate than the cost of delivering care.

In Derbyshire, the council currently contributes to the cost of people’s care if they have capital up to £50,000 – compared to the national capital limit of £23,250 – and it does not currently charge a tariff income and has set a maximum weekly contribution of £51.07.

The report has recommended the cabinet agrees to change the policy in line with the second option which is the same as the first but includes an alternate charge on 90per cent of a disposable income with a £20 a week disability related expenditure disregard discount.

It also states this is a preferred option because together with other measures within the proposed new policy this option would still be more generous than the limits allowed nationally and it is felt that it would balance the need to support people who need adult care the most while generating income to ensure services remain sustainable.

This option would also include a transparent and accessible process where people are able to apply to be assessed to receive extra financial support where they feel they incur additional costs over this amount related to their disability or ill health.

The report to cabinet also proposes anyone with a disability or long-term health condition would automatically retain £20 a week from their income – known as a Disability Related Disregard.

If approved, the new policy would come into effect from July 15, 2024, to give people time to adjust and a yearly inflationary increase will not be applied in April.

During the transition period people can expect to be offered information and guidance from a specialist team to ensure they are claiming all the benefits they are entitled to.

Residents were also asked in the consultation about the council’s current disability related expenditure process because under a possible, proposed new policy, charges relating to respite cover in a residential care home or nursing home – which helps give home carers a break – may also change and could also be based on a person’s capital and disposable income.

Concerned Labour County Cllr Anne-Frances Hayes has stated that the council’s plan to reduce the capital limit from £50,000 to £23,250 means those with an income or money above £23,250 will have to pay for their own care and this will lead to people’s care bills increasing and leaving many having to cancel services.

Labour group Deputy Leader, County Cllr Ruth George, has also raised concerns about the measures the council is considering to reduce the cost of adult social care and the potential financial impact on residents.

In addition, Cllr George has further raised concerns that carers of people with learning disabilities are also now facing the closure of respite homes which allow carers to have breaks.

Cllr Hoy has said that NHS Derbyshire and Derby Integrated Care Board administrators are reviewing the provision of short-term break units which are commissioned by the NHS through the Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust.

The proposed changes to the adult care service have coincided with the recent appointment of a new county council Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health, Simon Stevens, whose salary will be on a pay scale of between £121,562 to £133,525 per year after the resignation of Helen Jones, according to the council.

Despite cash-strapped Derbyshire County Council announcing that it has reduced a forecasted £46.4m budget deficit for the 2023/24 financial year to a £33m figure, it has stressed that rising demand and increasing pressures on the council’s budget mean it must consider changing the adult care policy to ensure adult social care services remain sustainable.

The council which has stopped all non-essential spending and implemented a conditional hiring freeze insists it is facing more tough decisions like many other councils across the country due to exceptionally high inflation rates, the impact of Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis.