Council accused over residential care costs

ELDERLY people in Oldham are more likely to have to sell their home to pay for residential care than pensioners in other areas, it has been claimed.

Research by the Conservatives revealed the postcode lottery across the country of whether someone’s home is taken into account when deciding how much is paid towards the cost of their care.

Councils have a discretionary power to exclude it if another person, such as a carer, is living there — something never used by Oldham council in 2007-8, according to the figures.

Conservative health spokesman Stephen O’Brien said: “Wide disparities right across the country mean unfairness and unpredictability.

“The thing I would call for is consistency in the use of the discretion the councils have under the guidelines the Department of Health have issued, and for the Government to be absolutely clear that there is no expectation that homes should be sold or anybody should be forced to sell their homes to pay for their care.”

Nationally, almost half of councils which replied had not used the discretionary power during the year.

Oldham cabinet member for adult services and health, Councillor Brian Lord, said: “The council does on occasion disregard the value of people’s homes when deciding on the charge they should pay. This depends on individual circumstances, however, and the majority of people are not eligible.”

Councils also have discretionary powers to agree a deferred payment arrangement where they place a charge against the value of the property which is not collected until the person has died. This has been used by Oldham Council 24 times.

Councillor Lord added: “It is the client’s choice if they wish to enter the deferred scheme. In some cases the person’s individual situation may prevent them from deferring payments, if they jointly own a property for example.

“Both schemes are actively promoted, and in addition clients are given fact sheets which explain these options.”