Home care costs soar over £10,000: Elderly left struggling to pay bills as town halls drive up charges

By Kirsty Walker 
Around half a million elderly and vulnerable people are being hit with soaring costs to pay for basic support in their own homes, figures have revealed.
The cost of home care has now topped more than £10,000 a year in some areas as councils increase charges for services such as bathing, cleaning and help with shopping.
A survey of local authorities has also revealed a postcode lottery with wide disparities in the levels of services provided.

The figures will fuel concerns that local authorities are using taxpayers as ‘cash cows’ by quietly increasing the price of their services to claw back money in the wake of Government cuts.

The poll of town halls shows that the average charge for home care has this year soared to £13.49 an hour – a rise of 6 per cent in the last two years.
The increase means the average yearly cost for an older or disabled person who pays for ten hours of home care a week is now £7,015 a year.
The poll shows huge differences in the price of care around the country. 
An elderly person living in Cheshire East has to pay £20.34 per hour for home care – or £10,577 per year for ten hours a week. In contrast, those in Tower Hamlets, East London, get it for free.
Meanwhile, the price of meals-on-wheels lunches or dinners has increased by 13 per cent in two years to £3.44 per meal and the average charge for transport to a day centre has soared by 33 per cent to £2.32.

Older or disabled people who get meals on wheels every day as well as home care now pay an average of £8,271 a year. Those who also need transport three times a week pay £8,633 a year.
The figures come at a time when millions of elderly people living below the poverty line are already struggling with the rising cost of food and energy bills.
Liz Kendall, Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, who commissioned the survey of 153 local authorities in England, said: ‘These increases in home care charges for older and disabled people are a stealth tax on the most vulnerable people in society.

The increase means the average yearly cost for an older or disabled person who pays for ten hours of home care a week is now £7,015 a year.
The poll shows huge differences in the price of care around the country. 
An elderly person living in Cheshire East has to pay £20.34 per hour for home care – or £10,577 per year for ten hours a week. In contrast, those in Tower Hamlets, East London, get it for free.
Meanwhile, the price of meals-on-wheels lunches or dinners has increased by 13 per cent in two years to £3.44 per meal and the average charge for transport to a day centre has soared by 33 per cent to £2.32.

Older or disabled people who get meals on wheels every day as well as home care now pay an average of £8,271 a year. Those who also need transport three times a week pay £8,633 a year.
The figures come at a time when millions of elderly people living below the poverty line are already struggling with the rising cost of food and energy bills.
Liz Kendall, Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, who commissioned the survey of 153 local authorities in England, said: ‘These increases in home care charges for older and disabled people are a stealth tax on the most vulnerable people in society.