You may have to pay towards the care services you receive.  The Council has a legal duty to charge for various services and here we will explain how we work out the charges.   

If you have been assessed as needing to live in a care home permanently or you have to go in one for short term respite your care co-ordinator will help you to complete a Statement of Financial Circumstances form. This asks for things like your weekly income, savings and outgoing expenses.

If you are receiving home care and/or other non-residential services (including day care services) an assessor/advice worker will complete this instead.

The information you provide will be kept confidential and it will only be used to work out how much you will be asked to pay.

If you have to go into a care home or a resource centre for respite care. To get help towards the cost of this you must have savings of less than £23,250. This amount  changes every April. 

As a guide if you are:

• If you are 18-24 you will be asked to pay £69.74 per week
• If you are 25-64 you will be asked to pay £76.31 per week
• If you are 65 or over you will be asked to pay £96.02 per week

However, if you receive more than 8 weeks respite care in a financial year i.e. April to end March the amount you have to pay will be more. Your care co-ordinator will arrange for a full financial assessment to be completed so that you know how much. 

Whenever we work out the amount that you have to pay  we will always write to you to explain how we have come to that amount. If you have any questions we will be only too happy to answer these.  If you do not agree with our assessment, or the details are incorrect, you can ask for the charge to be reviewed.

You should always be given the appropriate leaflet that describes in detail the way the charge is calculated for the particular service you will receive.

For home care and other non-residential services (including day care services) the charge is based on your weekly income and savings.  Certain outgoings or financial commitments can be taken into account.  There is a standard minimum charge, or a variable charge up to a maximum weekly amount. This depends on the hours of service received.

There are many ways you can pay for your services.  You can pay by a Community Services Payment Card. You can use this at the Post Office or at the Council's cash offices to pay for your services. You can pay by cheque or by credit or debit card over the telephone. You can also pay by direct debit.

For general help and guidance, please contact Social Care Direct (see related link), your first point of contact for social care services.