Notice of By-election

A By-election to elect a Councillor for the East Renfrewshire Council Electoral Ward 1: Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor will be held on Thursday 21 August 2025.  Find out more and view the election timetable.

Changes to care charges

What is happening?  

People who get help at home (not in a care home), currently do not pay for this help.  

This is called non-residential care.  

In some other parts of Scotland, people do have to pay for some care. These are called chargeable services.  

 What might change?  

The Council decided that no one will have to pay any new charges until 1 April 2026.  

We want to talk to people with chargeable services before anything changes, so we can explain what it might mean for you and help you get ready  

 What happens next?  

We want to speak to lots of people.  

This will help us:  

Check if the changes are fair  

We will update something called an EFRIA.  

That means Equalities, Fairness and Rights Impact Assessment.  

This helps us make sure your views on charging are shared with decision makers. 

Help people get all the money they can  

We will check if you can get more money or benefits.  

This is called income maximisation.  

Work out how many people might pay, and how much 

We will look at how much people might have to pay, based on how much money they have.  

We will work with you to do a financial assessment.  

You will only pay towards your care if you can afford it. 

This video explains the financial assessment process

 How will we do this? 

We are working with a team called MART.  

This stands for Money Advice and Rights Team.  

They are part of the Council but work independently.  

MART can:  

  • Help you get more money if you are missing out (income maximisation)  
  • Look at your money (financial assessment)  
  • Check if you will need to pay for care  

MART's help is:  

  • free  
  • confidential - MART do not share your information 

Your information is kept safe and private.  This follows data protection rules (called GDPR).  

 Last year, MART helped over 5,500 people with income maximisation.  Together, they helped people get over £10 million.  

 How to contact MART  

  • Phone: 0141 577 8420  
  • Monday to Friday, 8:45am to 4:45pm  (3:55pm on Friday)
  • Contact them online 

Tell MART if you need extra help with your appointment.  

 Attend our drop-in sessions

At these sessions you can speak to staff from the HSCP, MART, East RenfrewshireCarers Centre, East Renfrewshire Self Directed Support (SDS) Forum to;

  • find out more about how charging will work 
  • ask questions  
  • help us get your views for the fairness check (EFRIA)  

Day

Time

Location

Every Monday in July

12pm - 4pm

Drumby room, ground floor, Eastwood Health and Care Centre, Drumby Cres, Clarkston, G76 7HN

Every Wednesday in July

10am - 1pm

Room G40, ground floor, Barrhead Health and Care Centre, 213 Main St, Barrhead, G78 1SA

 

Other documents you might find helpful

Social Work (Monday to Friday, 8:45am to 4:45pm)

East Renfrewshire Carers Centre 

East Renfrewshire SDS Forum 

  

Need support with this information?

We can help people understand this: 

  • in a way that is easier for you to understand  
  • in another language  

To arrange this:  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

 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 are working towards introducing charging from 1 April 2026. 

Charges will be linked to the ability to pay and this will be established through a financial assessment.

You will receive your first invoice in May 2026, for services provided in April 2026.

Personal care will remain free, and this is set out by legislation. The details of what is considered personal care can be found at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2002/5/schedule/1

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.  

This will be based solely on the individual's circumstances, not the household.

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.

If you believe your care and support needs have changed as we approach April 2026, then please contact social work on 0141 800 7850  to ask for a review of your situation when the time comes. 

If you believe your care and support needs have changed, please contact social work to ask for a review of your situation. 

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 several 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.  

  We also have a group of people with lived experience who are helping us get our communications and engagement for implementation right. If you would like to join this group email HSCPPA@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk  

June - August 2025:

  • Offer income maximisation 
  • Offer financial assessments 
  • Update ERFIA

22 October 2025: 

Update Full Council on the progress of the above

1 April 2026: Charges introduced

 

Last modified on 24 July 2025

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