‘Thousands are trapped in debt over care fees’
THE SOCIAL care “ticking timebomb” has blown a gaping hole in family finances, a union has warned, after an investigation revealed more than 13,000 people across Yorkshire are trapped in debt for care fees.
The GMB, which represents thousands of carers, said information released by councils in the region showed 13,455 people were in arrears on the social care payments to local authorities during the past two years.
Of these, more than 7,300 have debt management procedures in place by the local authority and 53 were taken to court due to nonpayment of social care debts. The union said the true figure is likely to be even higher as some authorities did not respond.
GMB national officer, Sharon Wilde, said: “These stark figures show the UK’s social care ticking timebomb has now blown a gaping hole in families’ finances. The fact more than 13,000 are in debt because they’re unable to pay for their own care – or that of their loved ones – shows the system just isn’t working.”
She said the ageing population had created “huge demand” for care staff, but low pay, in part due to lack of local authority funding, meant the sector was struggling to recruit and retain staff.
“We need a clear, coherent strategy for funding social care now and in the future,” she said. “Otherwise the struggle to recruit and retain carers will become even more acute, while tens of thousands of people are plunged into debt trying to pay for the level of support that they need.”
Nationally, 166,000 people are in debt to local authorities for social care, with more than 1,100 taken to court from 2015/16 to 2016/17. Of the Yorkshire authorities, Doncaster took the highest number of debtors to court over the period with 21 cases. It had 772 people in arrears with just 85 on debt management plans.
Director of people at Doncaster, Damian Allen, said court action was “always a last resort”.
He added: “We work with people on an individual basis and offer support, including instalment plans, to enable people to make their assessed contribution and reduce their debt. Our approach to debt recovery is reasonable and sensitive and we will only proceed to court action where all other alternatives have been exhausted.”
In North Yorkshire, 1,354 people fell into arrears over the period, with all but nine placed on a debt management plan. In total, 14 were taken to court. Corporate director for health and adult services, Richard Webb, said the council did its utmost to ensure those who could not pay for their care got the support and benefits they were entitled to.
He added: “We are also mindful of our responsibilities to people who do pay their care fees and to taxpayers across North Yorkshire and, sadly, in a small number of cases, we have to take Court action, albeit as a last resort.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said it is committed to ensuring everyone receives affordable and dignified care, and means testing ensures people are charged for their care based on what they can afford.