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'No choice' but to approve £1.8m-a-year disability care cuts

Victoria WaltonOxfordshire political reporter
News imageEPA A person is being pushed in a wheelchair. We can't see anyone's face. The person in the wheelchair is wearing blue jeans and a pink jacket. It looks like one of her trainers has become untied. Pushing them, is a person wearing dark shoes and dark jeans.EPA
Oxfordshire County Council hopes to save £1.8m through cuts to social care services

Disabled people living in Oxfordshire will need to pay more for some council-provided social care services in a bid to save £1.8m each year.

Oxfordshire County Council has approved a £10 daily rate for council-arranged transport, which had previously been free, as well as £9.87 per week for the telecare system, which helps people live independently in their homes.

The initial disability-related expenditure (DRE) allowance for people in the county will also be cut from 35% to 25%.

Carers and opposition councillors have criticised the move. But Lib Dem councillor Gareth Epps said "we have no choice", with the council facing government funding cuts of between £24m and £30m over the next two years.

"We will be faced with worse decisions to come," he added.

People using council-arranged transport to travel to day care centres and attend social care appointments will now need to pay £10. It had previously been free.

The telecare system, which helps people to live independently in their own homes by supplying personal alarms and motion sensors, will now be offered for £9.87 per week. This was being provided for free in some circumstances, with other people paying £6 a week for the service.

Changes will also be made to the amount of DRE a person can keep before it is considered in a financial assessment.

The local authority said the reduction, from 35% to 25%, brings it in line with other councils and could save the authority £1.2m.

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Unpaid carer Canio Santoliquido has urged the council to find savings elsewhere

A consultation into the additional charges and reduction in DRE allowance found that 52% of people felt the changes would negatively impact them. Only 9% believed they were "reasonable".

Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for adult social care, Rebekah Fletcher, said it was not a decision she had wanted to take, but it was about "balancing the responsible stewardship of public resources with our duty to protect and support the people who are going to be affected."

Canio Santoliquido is an unpaid carer from Oxford and said the changes to DRE were the wrong place to look for savings.

"I do appreciate there is an overall budget deficit, but I think they're placing the hardship on the shoulders of people who can't afford to pay it," he said.

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Labour councillor Imade Edosomwan says the reduction in disability-related expenditure leaves "a bad taste in the mouth"

Labour's shadow county council cabinet member for adult social care, Imade Edosomwan, said the decision "left a bad taste in the mouth" arguing that funding should have been found from somewhere else before asking disabled people to pay more for services.

Edosomwan suggested savings could be made in the cost of care packages the council pays to suppliers or using congestion charge money to pay for the cost of transport, "instead of touching the most vulnerable".

He also criticised the reduction in the retained level of DRE, adding "the cost-of-living crisis hasn't gone down. It's gone up. It makes no sense to take it back. You should add more if possible."

Oxfordshire County Council currently has an annual adult social care budget of about £330m, supporting more than 6,800 people.