Have your say on S Glos plans to increase charges to elderly and disabled residents.

South Glos Council is considering making changes to the charges paid by people newly accessing the care system who are paying the full cost themselves. The new arrangements would come into effect on 1 June 2020. There are three changes proposed:

• New users of dementia, learning disability and specialist day care would be charged £96.30 per day.
• New purchasers of community-based services would be charged a £295 one-off arrangement fee and an annual charge of £75.
• Service users may also become eligible for a £295 fee if they decide to change providers (and ask the Council to arrange it) for a reason not related to their care needs.
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More details can be found on their consultation webpage:https://consultations.southglos.gov.uk/consult.ti/Fees2020

Do please have your say before their deadline of 17 March. These fees would mean someone would be paying nearly £100 a day for specialist day care. 

And by charging £295 for people to change provider, they risk locking vulnerable people into having to use a provider that they find they don't like.  Vulnerable people may not reply - but you can. 

Council tax to increase for social care?

Have you had your say on the South Glos budget yet?

An extra question has now been added to the consultation. Last year South Glos took up the option to charge an extra 2% of council tax as an "adult social care precept" to go towards the spiralling costs of providing care to the vulnerable. It had been expected that this would continue at 2% for the following years but in December the Government announced a proposal that councils could introduce the rise sooner  – so they could increase council tax by up to 3% in 2017/18 or 2018/19 but still could not exceed 6% in total over the three year period 2017-2020. South Glos want to know your views on this. You can have your say online until 23rd January.

It is hard to see how South Glos can plug the funding gap without taking up this proposal but the Liberal Democrats nationally do not think this is the answer to the crisis in social care. Using council tax to raise the money will disproportionately burden the less well off in our communities and poorer parts of the country will be less able to raise money in this way than wealthier ones. Led by our health spokesperson and former Health Minister Norman Lamb we are pushing for a cross-party agreement on funding for health and social care. Is it time to put a penny on income tax to secure the future of the NHS and social care?

Don't forget - have your say on health tomorrow

Tomorrow (Saturday 16 May) there will be a chance to share your views on local health and social care needs at a Meet and Greet event in Yate Shopping Centre. For more information, take a look at the consultation website.

The BIG picture - have your say on health

Until 31st July, South Gloucestershire Council and NHS South Gloucestershire are carrying out a consultation on local health and social care needs. They are very keen to get the views of those who can get a "raw deal" from these services and will be holding meet-and-greet events to get the views of everyone involved, including children and young people, older people and people with disabilities.

There will be two events in Yate Shopping Centre where you can have your say:

• Meet and Greet - 10am-2pm on Saturday 16 May - a chance to meet the people involved in this consultation and share your views on 'The Big Picture' For Health and Wellbeing in South Gloucestershire
  
  
• Family Week Event 10am-4pm on Tuesday 26 May - another chance to share your views as part of an event to celebrate Family Week
  

For more information, including events being held elsewhere, see the consultation website.