By Paul Dicken
09 July 2009
The Welsh Assembly Government’s proposals to bring consistency to charges for home care services might mean some people will pay more than they currently do, campaigners have said.
The proposed legislation would cap local authority weekly charges at £50 to eliminate the wide disparity in charges across Wales.
Rhian Davies, chair of the Coalition on Charging Cymru, a group of organisations campaigning to abolish charges for home care services, told Public Finance that some people were paying up to £200 a week. The cap would be a ‘big improvement’ for those people, she said.
‘Our concern is that there are people paying less than £50 and local authorities might interpret the £50 as a standard charge, so people could end up paying more,’ she said.
The Assembly Government has estimated that the cost of introducing the cap and scrapping charges for transport to day care would be £11m a year.
Darren Millar, chair of the National Assembly health, wellbeing and local government committee, welcomed the proposal. But there were questions over how the proposals would be funded, he added.
‘We don’t have information yet on the impact of the proposals on the Assembly Government’s budget,’ he said. ‘It’s fine to take the moral high ground, but unless they specify how it’s going to be paid for they may be in real danger of not being able to deliver anything.’
Introducing the measure on June 30, deputy social services minister Gwenda Thomas said the plans would introduce ‘consistency and fairness’ to non-residential social services.
09 July 2009
The Welsh Assembly Government’s proposals to bring consistency to charges for home care services might mean some people will pay more than they currently do, campaigners have said.
The proposed legislation would cap local authority weekly charges at £50 to eliminate the wide disparity in charges across Wales.
Rhian Davies, chair of the Coalition on Charging Cymru, a group of organisations campaigning to abolish charges for home care services, told Public Finance that some people were paying up to £200 a week. The cap would be a ‘big improvement’ for those people, she said.
‘Our concern is that there are people paying less than £50 and local authorities might interpret the £50 as a standard charge, so people could end up paying more,’ she said.
The Assembly Government has estimated that the cost of introducing the cap and scrapping charges for transport to day care would be £11m a year.
Darren Millar, chair of the National Assembly health, wellbeing and local government committee, welcomed the proposal. But there were questions over how the proposals would be funded, he added.
‘We don’t have information yet on the impact of the proposals on the Assembly Government’s budget,’ he said. ‘It’s fine to take the moral high ground, but unless they specify how it’s going to be paid for they may be in real danger of not being able to deliver anything.’
Introducing the measure on June 30, deputy social services minister Gwenda Thomas said the plans would introduce ‘consistency and fairness’ to non-residential social services.
