Remove social care charging entirely for working-aged disabled adults, so they don’t have to part-fund their care from state benefits designed to pay for daily living costs, like food and heating.
One of the specific asks of the Care and Support Alliance, representing over 50 social care and disability charities, is for the next Government to remove social care charging entirely for working-aged disabled adults. Here Jackie O’Sullivan, co-Chair of the Alliance, and acting CEO of Mencap explains why.
It is a common misunderstanding that social care, which supports people to live independently, is free for all those who need it. Sadly, this is not the case. The vast majority of people who need support with daily tasks such as washing, getting dressed, eating or going shopping, will pay for their care. At the CSA, we have been campaigning for social care to be properly funded, so that everyone who needs it can access the care they need without worrying about the cost.
Much of the debate around social care charging revolves around questions of how much older people should be asked to contribute from their assets and/or savings. However, many working-aged disabled adults are also charged for their social care – even where they have no assets and receive no income other than benefits. For this group, the money they receive in benefits can be clawed back by local authorities to part-pay for their social care down to a minimum level or Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). This MIG sets out the minimum amount of income per week a person must be left with: for older people this is at least £228.70, for adults between the ages of 25 and pension credit age it is £110.60 and for adults aged 18-24 it is just £87.65.
To compound the unfairness, employment income is exempt, which means that the people who rely on benefits are the ones who are penalised the most.
Despite most people wanting to, not every disabled person is able to work, and there aren’t enough employment support programmes to help tackle this. So, given the low rates of employment among disabled people (only 5% of people with a learning disability are in work), this policy causes hardship and poverty. To compound matters, Minimum Income Guarantee rates have only been uprated twice since 2016. Meanwhile, Local Authorities have to spend time and money on assessing people, chasing payments – and even prosecuting people. Imagine how scary this is for people! You’re on a very low income and struggling to pay the bills as it is and then suddenly, you are slapped with a huge bill and threatened with court if you don’t pay up.
A relatively easy win for any new Government would be to end this sort of charging altogether – and that is why it is included in our campaign asks alongside other measures which will directly benefit older people, unpaid carers and care workers.
