Adults who fully fund their own care may have to pay over £100 in admin charges if they want East Sussex County Council’s help and support arranging it.
The county council has launched a consultation asking residents what they think about plans to charge a £118 admin fee to adults who fully-fund their own care, as well as on-going administration charges.
It says the proposed fees have been calculated to match the costs it incurs for providing the service and are below the national average for comparable charges used by other local authorities.
There will be no charge for adults who receive financial support for their care.
There are currently 2,300 fully-funding adults in the county who have asked East Sussex County Council to arrange care on their behalf and who will be affected by these proposals.
Feedback to the consultation, which runs for 11 weeks and closes on Monday, July 21, will be considered by the council’s lead member for adult social care and health when he makes a final decision in the autumn.
There is currently no charge for fully-funding adults who request that the council arrange their care on their behalf, and the council covers the cost of providing the service.
Most local authorities have introduced these charges in line with powers under the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support Statutory Guidance.
Under the proposals East Sussex County Council would recover costs by asking anyone who covers the full cost of their care to pay:
- A one-off set-up fee of £118 for arranging new packages of care and support for fully-funding adults
- An administrative fee of £11 per invoice to cover ongoing internal costs
More information about the proposed charges and how to take part in the consultation can be found at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/admincharges