Norfolk council's care cost increase move under fire

Lana Hempsall said the most vulnerable should not suffer to save Norfolk County Council money and criticised consultation over the proposals.

Lana Hempsall (Image: (Image: Conservative Party))

County Hall's cabinet will, on August 5, decide whether to make changes which would see people pay more towards their care.

The Conservative-controlled council agreed earlier this year to make £42m of cuts and savings, including a proposal to save £1.1m a year by reducing the minimum income guarantee (MIG).

What is MIG?

The MIG specifies the income disabled people aged 18 to 64 can keep for everyday expenses, after the cost of council-arranged home care is taken into account.

Reducing it - which the council says would bring Norfolk in line with comparable councils - would see more than 1,400 disabled people pay more for their care.

Some could have to pay towards care costs for the first time and others between £10 and £50 extra a week.

Consultation over two options was held, but disabled people and their families branded the process 'rigged' because an option of no change was not put forward.

Council officers acknowledged changes would have a "detrimental" effect.

Disabled people protested over previous attempts to charge them more for care (Image: Philip Williams)

A previous attempt to change the MIG led to the council losing a legal challenge.

And, at a meeting of the authority's scrutiny committee, Mrs Hempsall warned that, because the authority had not consulted over no change, it could be open to another legal challenge.

Ms Hempsall, who represents Acle, said: "The consultation was flawed. If I was the legal team representing the people affected, I do not think it would take me more than five minutes to convince a reasonable judge to say this consultation was prejudiced in favour of making the savings.

"Should financial headroom be made at the expense of non-verbal individuals in Norfolk? I, quite frankly, don't think it should."

Council lawyer Kat Hulatt said the authority's own legal advice was that the consultation was not "fatally flawed".

'Taking money from the poorest'

Judith and Nick Taylor (Image: Neil Didsbury)

Judith Taylor, whose son has Down's syndrome, runs the Disability Network Norfolk Group.

She told the meeting: "If these proposals go ahead, Norfolk County Council will be taking money from the poorest and most vulnerable people in our county, in order to balance its books.

"August 5 will be a very black day indeed for Norfolk's disabled people, their families and carers if these proposals go ahead."

Call for alternative savings

Dan Roper, chair of Norfolk County Council's scrutiny committee (Image: Dan Roper)

Liberal Democrat Dan Roper, chairman of the scrutiny committee, said some disabled people could have to pay more than £1,000 for care each year under one of the options.

Labour group leader Steve Morphew said the Conservatives should have presented alternative options to the MIG saving.

Steve Morphew, Labour group leader at Norfolk County Council (Image: Denise Bradley)

In response to his questions, officers confirmed they had not assessed whether the changes would lead to the affected disabled people having increased care needs - or what that could cost the authority.

Officers said that would have to be established after the cabinet decision, should changes be agreed.

Andrew Jamieson, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for finance (Image: Norfolk County Council)

Mr Morphew suggested to Andrew Jamieson, the council's cabinet member for finance, that the change had already been "baked in".

Mr Jamieson insisted that was "incorrect" and the cabinet could decide not to make the change, although that would require savings elsewhere.

The scrutiny committee agreed a number of recommendations to cabinet, including that one of the options was preferable to the other, if a change was made.

Norfolk County Council's County Hall headquarters (Image: Mike Page)

It also recommended that, should the cabinet decide not to make changes, it should explore other savings or funding and the council should lobby the government for more adult social care cash.