Elderly and disabled people skipping meals because of ‘postcode lottery’ benefit cuts

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Vulnerable elderly and disabled people are skipping meals to keep their heads above water because of a “postcode lottery” that sees a third of their benefits taken away to pay for social care.

Lambeth council is among the majority of local authorities that charge people for sending carers into their homes to look after them and help with basic self-care like bathing and eating.

Lambeth residents rallied outside the town hall in Brixton on Tuesday demanding the council follow two other London boroughs and get rid of the fees.

Labour-led Hammersmith and Fulham council hasn’t charged for home support since 2015 and Aspire party-led Tower Hamlets is scrapping them from April 2024.

Councils like Lambeth that still charge for home care are allowed to take money directly from people’s benefits to recover the costs.

Campaigners say this leaves vulnerable residents worse off as government benefits designed to help people cover extra costs linked to their disabilities are used to pay back the council fees.

Combined with the soaring cost of living, they say some disabled people and their families now face the stark choice between eating and heating.

Lambeth resident Liz Hanlon, 58, who is carer for her 32-year-old son, said around a third of her son’s benefits were being taken by the council to pay for social care fees.

She said: “It’s having an impact on our household budget. We want the charges to stop. Especially because there’s less money to go around these days.”

Ms Hanlon added: “When you’ve got a personal budget [money a council pays towards social care support], you have to maintain it and we’re spending time doing paperwork. Can I charge them £35 a week to do that paperwork?”

Margaret Ashmead, 62, said it wasn’t fair that people in Lambeth were hit with home care charges, while those across the river in Hammersmith and Fulham escaped them.

Ms Ashmead, who cares for her 91-year-old mum and 34-year-old daughter with learning difficulties, said: “Caring has become a postcode lottery. There’s not a level playing field for everyone. The fees that people have to pay in Lambeth, people don’t have to pay in some other boroughs.

“You’re talking about anything from a tenth to a third of benefits being taken in social care fees. That’s not right at all. They are taking from the vulnerable.”

A Lambeth council spokesman said: “We know the financial hardships faced by so many vulnerable people who need social care, particularly when inflation remains so high and everyone is struggling with the cost of living crisis

“However, following significant cuts in our funding from government over the past 13 years, and without a sustainable funding settlement for Adult Social Care from central government we have little choice but to charge for some of our services.

“Lambeth has to charge people for care when they are in a residential or nursing home, although there is more flexibility for community care. We have worked hard to ensure that charges are only levied following rigorous financial assessments, to protect those people who are least able to pay.

“We’ve already been in contact with Disability Advice Service Lambeth (DASL) regarding charging residents for social care services, and we’re due to meet them soon to discuss this important issue.”

Pictured top: Carer Margaret Ashmead outside Lambeth Town Hall on Tuesday (Picture: Robert Firth)