CampaignsCare & HealthcareCouncil faces legal challenge on home care for elderly and disabled Council faces legal challenge on home care for elderly and disabled
17/09/2008
Hammersmith and Fulham council, one of a handful of local councils that still offer free home care to disabled and older people, faces a judicial review from residents over its decision to start charging for such services. Hundreds of older and disabled people are now facing fees of at least £10 an hour for home care - with no maximum limit - and they are determined to fight back.
Kevin Caulfield, chair of Hammersmith and Fulham Coalition against Community Care Cuts (HAFAC), believes that the charges will force many disabled and older residents into further poverty. He added: “We are not talking about charging disabled people for luxuries - the services in question support people to meet basic human needs such as having a shower and going to the toilet. Needs that the rest of the community would view as human rights.”
Solicitors from the Public Law Project, acting on behalf of members of HAFAC, have launched a claim for judicial review at the High Court, arguing that the decision to introduce charges is unlawful because the council should have considered the impact on disabled people before making the decision - and that the borough was breaking a previous promise not to introduce such charges. The council has promised to defend the decision and a judgement is expected within 10 days.
Mr Caulfield said: “Sadly, I think it has become culturally acceptable to allow councils to restrict eligibility criteria, so that it is now seen as legitimate to forbid disabled and elderly people the support they need to live their lives."
Sue Bott, director of the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL), added: “There is a widening gulf between the government's theme of 'service-personalisation' and disabled and older people’s actual experiences at grass roots level.
“NCIL is supporting HAFCAC’s campaign. And at the national level we are urging the government to investigate the poverty and degradation that charges for services really mean for disabled and elderly people and their families.”
Currently around 97% of all English councils now charge for home care services, and a survey of 34 councils by the charity Counsel and Care found that some users are paying as much as £18 per hour and that the average charge was £12.84.
A report by NCIL and the Coalition on Charging in June 2008 found rising care charges are putting older and disabled people at risk of not being able to afford to eat, heat their homes, wash or get essential support.
Ravi Low-Beer, the lawyer for the claimants, added: “I don’t think that the council has acted lawfully. We haven’t seen the council’s position, but introducing charges for home care services will affect hundreds of people. The council has a duty to carry out an impact assessment and take it into account when they made their decision - which they didn’t do. If we win, then the court will order the council to reconsider that decision."
By Katharine Quarmby, courtesy of Disability Now