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At a meeting of Full Council on Wednesday 26 February, Elected Members considered the proposal to introduce charges for non-residential care in East Renfrewshire.
By a majority vote, Elected Members deferred the implementation of charges until 1 April 2026. This is subject to the Integration Joint Board (IJB) bringing a paper back to full Council in October with an updated Equality, Fairness and Rights Impact Assessment (EFRIA), an update on how we will deliver income maximisation for potentially affected service users as well as the recommended charging level (taper) and expected generated income for 2026/27 and beyond.
We are grateful to everyone that has shared their views so far, and we are committed to ongoing engagement and communication as we navigate next steps. We will provide more detail as soon as possible.
Non-residential care includes services like social supports, charges for meals, day opportunities, building and community based services. Personal care at home is categorised as non-residential care but this cannot be charged for and will remain free. Legislation sets out what is categorised as personal care and this information can be found at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2002/5/schedule/1
For many years, we have worked hard to avoid the need to introduce charges for non-residential care, and up until now we are the only Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) in Greater Glasgow and Clyde that does not charge for these services.
Regrettably, our financial position, the demand for services and the increasing complexity of need, means we need to consider introducing charging for these services. Charges will be linked to the ability to pay and this will be established through a financial assessment.
The policy would not look at who provides the care, but who funds it. The aim of the policy is not to reduce care, but to charge for the applicable elements of care.
This will be different for everyone, but very generally, income is wages or pensions/benefits and expenditure is household related things, like mortgage/rent and council tax. Most other expenditure such a food, living expenses and utilities would be covered by the minimum income guarantee set by the DWP to ensure everyone could secure a minimum acceptable standard of living.
We are working with the Council Money Advice and Rights Team (MART) to implement the policy so we can ensure residents have access to everything they are entitled to..
Through a financial assessment. These will be carried out by the Council Money Advice and Rights Team (MART) in partnership with the person and their carers/family.
This will be different for each person, as it will be based on a financial assessment.
No, the financial assessment will be based solely on the individual's circumstances. There may be occasions where we do assess people together because it makes more sense for them i.e. couples who share care.
The policy will have no impact on your income but it will consider, based on your income and expenditure, whether you can contribute towards paying for relevant services.
If the financial assessment establishes you do not have the means to contribute to your care, you will not pay anything.
Absolutely not.
Capital is considered separately from income, but depending on the levels of capital, there may be a capital tariff, which acknowledges that higher levels of capital can yield income in their own right. This will be detailed in full in any policy.
Our system would be adjusted manually to take into account increases in DWP benefits and pensions. People would receive a financial reassessment annually to take into account changes in other sources of income, e.g. occupational pensions. In order to avoid more than one assessment per year for someone, we would take figures as they stand at the start of each financial year, unless they are likely to materially change during the year.
We would ask that if someone experiences material changes in their income during the year, they should contact us for a reassessment.
The mobility element of disability allowance will be disregarded for financial assessment purposes.
Financial assessments can be completed by the council Money Advice and Rights Team (MART). They will offer these in a variety of ways including electronic or paper copies, or having an officer from visit a person to assist with completion if preferable.
No, this is classified as personal care.
People receiving a direct payment would receive this net of any assessed contribution. People whose care is paid for directly by the HSCP would receive a bill from the HSCP for their portion, likely on a 4 week basis.
Any support provided to carers themselves is exempt from any charge.
The financial assessment will be on the individual receiving care and their disposable income.
The financial assessment of the person receiving support may have an effect on the households overall disposable income and you may wish to ensure that you are receiving all the financial support that you are entitled to.
East Renfrewshire Carers' Centre can assist with this. www.eastrenfrewshirecarers.co.uk as can the Council Money Advice and Rights Team (MART) https://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/mart
There is no indication that this will be taken forward and our financial situation is so challenging that we need to progress with this proposal.
We took a number of steps to include people's views and to listen to people to identify the issues that may arise from the proposal becoming a policy, and the impact this may have on their lives.
The EFRIA that was presented to Full Council on 6 February 2025 can be viewed here and we will be working over the summer to update this before presenting this back to Full Council on 22 October 2025.
