Latest news with #socialcare
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Areas where care homes cost double for self-funders - is YOURS on the list?
Care seekers are increasingly being left with no choice but to fund help themselves as the social care means testing threshold remains frozen and costs continue to grow. The vast majority of care seekers in the UK are self-funding, with some 66 per cent paying for their own care, compared with just 16 per cent of people reporting they were able to access care funding from their local authority. People with assets worth more than £23,250 have to fully fund their own care, and others will have to contribute to their care costs unless their assets are worth less than £14,250. These thresholds were set way back in 2010, with £23,250 in 2010 now equivalent to £35,805 when adjusted for inflation. With staffing, infrastructure and resource costs continuing to increase, care home fees have risen for the 2025/2026 financial year. As many as one in seven independent nursing homes now charge over £1,800 per week, according to LaingBuisson data. Hannah Karim, lead care expert at Online Care Finder Lottie, said: 'Each year care operators increase their care fees to cover the increasing cost of running a care home such as resources, energy bills and infrastructure. 'However, in recent years the increased cost has been much higher than previously. 'For example, the predicted increased costs for running a care home from 1 April 2025 averages £158,323.96 a year before additional costs such as increased energy bills, utilities and everyday essentials are considered due to rising employer contributions.' With fees rising, the disparity between how much self-funders are forced to pay in care fees and what local authorities pay continues to grow. In some areas, self-funders are paying almost twice as much as those funded by the council, according to data from Lottie. The starkest divide seen by the firm was in Solihull in the West Midlands, where the average care cost for a self-funder is £1,358 per week, £585 more than the standard fee of £773 per week that the area's council pays to care providers for someone who qualifies for financial support. Over the course of a year, this equates to £70,616, compared to a local authority cost of £40,196. Likewise, in Blackpool, self-funders pay out an average of £1,166 per week, some £566 more than the £600 paid by the local authority. In Manchester the disparity was £529, with those self-funding paying £1,295, while in Cornwall the disparity was £476, with the council paying as much as £1,002 per week on average, but self-funders paying £1,478 per week. Karim added: 'With costs rising, many care operators are having to make tough decisions, last year one in seven care providers reduced the level of service they offer. 'While many local councils are raising fees to help offset rising costs, these increases still fall short of the overall growth in care expenses over the past decade. 'As a result, the extra financial burden is being passed on to self-funding residents, leaving those who pay for their own care particularly vulnerable to higher charges.' Karim says 65 per cent of those looking for elderly care are struggling to be able to pay for the services they need. She added: 'The financial burden on families seeking care is becoming overwhelming. 'Every day, we hear stories from individuals struggling with the challenges of funding care for their elderly loved ones. 'Many are forced to make difficult decisions, often looking to sell their homes or dipping into personal savings, just to afford essential support. 'With an ageing population the government must act sooner to support families in accessing care to ensure affordable and sustainable care options remain available for all.' Where is the biggest fee gap? Region Council 2025/2026 Rate Self-Funder Weekly Fee Weekly Cost Difference North West Blackpool £600 £1,166 £566 South West Cornwall £1,002 £1,478 £476 West Midlands Wolverhampton £631 £1,061 £430 West Midlands Shropshire £983 £1,274 £291 Yorkshire & The Humber Bradford £766 £935 £169 East Midlands Staffordshire £948 £1,292 £344 West Midlands Birmingham £728 £1,125 £397 North West Manchester £766 £1,295 £529 North West Bury £707 £950 £243 North West Blackburn £751 £990 £239 West Midlands Solihull £773 £1,358 £585 I was forced to sell my parents' home to fund care One care seeker, 60-year-old Sarah, whose parents are in care in Oxfordshire, told This is Money her parents' residential care home informed her that they would be increasing their annual fees by more than £21,000 for her parents combined. The increase would mean paying out £174,773.60 per year for her parents' care, and increase of 13.85 per cent on the £153,600, she was paying previously. The care home gave 28 days' notice of the change, Sarah said, but argues that this wasn't enough time for her to negotiate on price. She said: 'This is the third care home I have had an experience with and there doesn't seem to be a clear set standard increase across the sector and the lack of transparency has left me feeling confused and frustrated.' Instead, Sarah felt forced to relocate her parents to a new care home with lower fees. Sarah had sold her parents' house in order to fund their care fees, meaning that she felt she had to make sure the money was put to good use. She said: 'I had to sell my parents home to fund their care, and promised them I would make every penny count, so with this in mind, we decided to look into new care home options.' She added: 'It has been a stressful decision to uproot my parents and move them to a new care home. 'This has been especially concerning because I am worried about the impact the change in environment would have on my parents' wellbeing, not just getting used to a new environment but also to new faces at the home and people providing care.' Even prior to the increase in fees, the care home in question had been reducing its services. Sarah told This is Money: 'Over the years, I've noticed that additional costs have been introduced for services that would have traditionally been included in the weekly care fee. 'For example, items like toiletries such as toothpaste and shower gel, podiatry appointments, and hairdressing have now started to be billed separately.' These extra charges meant that the £1,600 fee was just part of what she was paying. She said: 'One specific charge I have been paying monthly is for toenail cutting appointments for both my parents, which cost £40 per month.'
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Wolverhampton Council agrees £75m contract to hire agency staff
City of Wolverhampton Council has agreed a new £75m contract to employ hundreds of temporary agency workers for the next three authority agreed the deal with its existing temporary recruitment partner Adecco having dissolved its own agency YOO Recruit after 11 agreed the contract after experiencing difficulties with recruiting and retaining staff, particularly in specialist roles in adults and children's social care, finance, procurement and IT.A council report said that using agency workers was important to allow it to quickly respond to issues and demand for resource. "The use of agency workers can help the council respond to peaks and troughs in service requirements," it of Wolverhampton Council has spent more than £82.5m on agency staff in the last five years, including £40m in the last two years, the report agency contract could be extended for a further two years which would push the total cost to £100m. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Swinney warns of ‘critical economic threat' of UK Government immigration policy
The UK Government's immigration stance poses a 'critical economic threat' to Scotland, First Minister John Swinney has said. The Prime Minister released a new White Paper on immigration earlier this month, laying out plans to extend the time people will have to stay in the UK before applying for settled status, along with the end of visas for overseas care workers and reducing the time graduates are allowed to stay after leaving university. Speaking at a conference on Thursday, the First Minister again voiced his opposition to the plans, warning of the impact on Scotland's ageing population of a reduction in immigration. 'I am profoundly concerned by the direction of travel that is being taken on migration,' he said. 'I made this point to the Prime Minister when I met him on Friday – that the changing dynamics of our labour market and the need for us to encourage migration to support our working age population has to be recognised in the approach that is taken to migration in the United Kingdom.' The First Minster convened business leaders last week in the wake of the announcement, and told the conference the care sector said 26% of their workforce was from abroad. 'If those individuals are not able to make a contribution to our social care system, then I don't know how we will deliver a social care system in Scotland,' he added. 'I can see a significant economic threat to our prosperity if we do not have a more mature approach to immigration. This is a deadly serious issue for all of us.'
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Overseas carers in South West afraid over immigration overhaul
Overseas people working in adult social care have said they are "afraid" about proposed changes aimed at making it harder for international workers to remain in the carers gain the right to live and work here indefinitely if they have been working in the country on a sponsored visa for five years.A new UK government white paper proposes increasing that to 10 years to reduce reliance on international workers and boost the recruitment and retention of homegrown Aryaratne, a migrant worker from Sri Lanka who moved to Dawlish in Devon with his family to work in domiciliary care in March 2023 said: "I'm stressed. I'm thinking about it all the time." Mr Aryaratne, 42, is on a care sponsorship visa - a type of skilled worker visa that allows overseas nationals to work in UK adult social care roles under a licensed said: "We have fully integrated into society, my wife works, I work, we pay taxes, my kids have made new friends. It's an anxious time for us."We are the front line of domiciliary care. This will affect everyone across the board." There were 27,174 health and care worker visas granted in the UK to main applicants in 2024, an 81% decrease compared to the previous year according to Home Office Jose, 37, moved to Torquay from India almost three years ago and said she is also worried. She said: "This country is giving us the opportunity to bring our families and we can get a good education for our kids. This news is very sad. "If we are not allowed to stay, we will have no option than to go back. We hope they will change the rules." Her colleague Soumya Sebastian, 42, is also originally from India, and worked in Israel for nine years before deciding to come to the UK because she was able to bring her family here."We are very afraid of our future. We left our job there to come here, for our family and our future", she pair work at Sefton Hall care home in home's manager, Gabriela Ogreanu, said: "They have such high respect for the elderly. They are family oriented, they are part of the community, their contribution is massive. "We try to recruit locally from Dawlish but we barely have one or two applicants to do the job. The government says we have to recruit locally, but who wants to do the job?"Ms Orgreanu added she has a high number of staff who are anxious because of the said: "You open the borders, you allow these people to come in. You allow them to bring their families, to rent, to integrate into the community. "But then you suddenly decide that actually its too many of them and can we send some home. It's wrong." Naeem Ahmad runs Eschol House Nursing home in Portscatho, Cornwall and employs seven international said he feels the signalling that's coming from central government around migration is "wholly negative" and is "not good for morale" in his team. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:"We recognise the scale of reform needed to make adult social care attractive as a career: we want it to be regarded as a profession, and for the people who work in care to be respected as professionals."That is why we are introducing a new Fair Pay Agreement and implementing the first universal career structure, giving care workers better pay, conditions, and new opportunities to progress in their career." 'Revolving door' Katrina Hall founded the Bay Care Group in said: " We have 156 international workers. If we lose that workforce, it will cut 40 percent of our provision."We cannot get a British workforce here. We spent around £100,000 a year in advertising for British workers. "All we got were people on benefits who came to have an interview in order to continue to receive benefits. We've literally become a revolving door for people looking to continue claiming their benefits." Irena Cox is one of Bay Care's clients is Irena Cox who has carers visit her home in Torbay five times a said: "They've been good enough to come over and work here. It means a lot, especially when you are vulnerable. I can't walk very far, I can't stand up very long. "They are brilliant."The Home Office estimated the new policies could lead to a 100,000 drop in immigration per year by Secretary Yvette Cooper said it is "time to end that care worker recruitment from abroad" and rules will change this year - instead requiring firms to hire British nationals or extend visas of overseas workers already in the governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, which is the number of people coming to the UK minus the number migration climbed to a record 906,000 in June 2023, and last year it stood at 728, Minister Keir Starmer argued the proposals bring the immigration system "back into control", and said the new plans, which tackle legal migration to the UK, would ensure a "selective" and "fair" system, where "we decide who comes to this country".
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Aberdeenshire social care cuts see families 'face uncertainty'
Cuts are to be made to services for adults with learning disabilities in projects will close as part of efforts to find £17m of savings at Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership (AHSCP) this centres will stay open, but fewer people will be eligible to attend, while social care transport is to be cut almost board overseeing AHSCP said services would not be removed until alternative provision was found, but families said they were faced with uncertainty. Aberdeenshire Integration Joint Board (IJB) said changes had to be made or it risked the financial stability of AHSCP. The Accounts Commission warned earlier this year that the financial position of all Scotland's IJBs was "precarious".During a meeting in Aberdeen on Wednesday, Aberdeenshire IJB decided to end the use of buses and taxis to take people to members also halved the number of activity hubs for older people and opted to outsource the vast majority of at-home care. Families gathered outside the meeting to protest against the Anderson Coltherd, whose 18-year-old daughter Erin attends a day centre in Fraserburgh, said: "Even though we've been told she'll keep her place, we're quite apprehensive about what that place will look like because we don't think that is going to be the same as it is now. "She really thrives there.""It's been really stressful. We can't sleep at night. What kind of service is going to be left for them?" Saddiq Ahmed's son uses day services in the Crimond area."Alexander is 36 years old, he's autistic," he Ahmed claimed families were being treated with "utter contempt", and said services were being "stripped" from vulnerable added: "I took early retirement eight years ago when my wife was ill with cancer, she passed away, I'm his only carer now."If he was to lose his place, and his transport of course, I don't know what I would do." Inez Kirk, Aberdeenshire branch secretary of the public services union Unison, said staff cared "deeply" about communities and the services they said: "Staff are absolutely heartbroken, angry, fed up."Communities are losing a valuable resource, and people are losing their jobs and careers, and seeing the work they have dedicated their lives to being undervalued."I know budgets are bad, but I would like people to work with the staff and find ways to go forward, save money, do things better." Families were given assurances adults with learning disabilities would not have their services removed until alternative provision could be the meeting, Aberdeenshire IJB chairman John Tomlinson said the gap between how much services cost and the money available to deliver them needed to be closed "urgently".He said: "We have heard several speakers describe the fears they have about how the decisions we have made today may impact on them and their loved ones. "None of us take this responsibility lightly, there has been some sober and reflective discussions in the room today and we are assured that officers will proceed with sensitivity and compassion as we make the changes we must."Mr Tomlinson added: "Unfortunately, the fundamental fact is that we must make savings now, if we do not, we risk the financial stability of our funding partners and the knock-on impacts that would have on wider public services across Aberdeenshire."
