East Renfrewshire delays plans to introduce social care charges after backlash

Plans to roll out new social care charges in East Renfrewshire, which sparked opposition from parents and carers, have been pushed back.

Means-tested £20 per hour fees for non-residential care — which includes ‘social supports’ like help with shopping or going to the cinema — were set to be introduced in July after the council’s cabinet backed the proposal.

But that decision was called in by SNP councillors, who wanted more scrutiny. At a full council meeting on Wednesday, Labour and SNP councillors agreed to defer the charges until April 2026.

Conservative councillors had put forward a proposal to drop them for the remainder of the council term, which runs until 2027.

Money to cover the loss of income arising from the deferral will be taken from a £2.2m underspend in the council’s budget for 2024/25. Health and social care chiefs will also produce a report by October, including an updated assessment of the impact on people affected.

Financial assessments will still be carried out to see who would need to pay the charges. Cllr Owen O’Donnell, Labour, said these would include efforts to maximise people’s income.

Over 1,000 people signed a petition calling for the proposals to be dropped, and campaigners in the public gallery during the council meeting raised concerns over “degrading” financial assessments.

A decision on the charges had already been deferred from December to see whether more funding was made available in the Scottish Government’s budget.

Council leader Owen O’Donnell, Labour, said the integration joint board (IJB) — a partnership between the council and NHS which runs health and social care services — remained “extremely challenged”.

He added that the IJB had recommended the charges be agreed by the cabinet—which is made up of three Labour councillors and independent Danny Devlin—due to its “severe financial challenges.”

These have been “increasing for a number of years as a result of flat cash budget settlements failing to recognise increasing demand for services as the demographics of East Renfrewshire change”, Cllr O’Donnell said.

The council leader will write to the First Minister to ask him if his party will deliver on a manifesto commitment to abolish the charges. The council’s budget for 2025/26 includes an extra £1.6m for health and social care services.

Cllr O’Donnell said the report in October will include “a full equalities impact assessment of those service users potentially asked to contribute”. He added the motion, agreed by Labour and SNP, implied a decision would be made in October on whether to continue with the charges from April 1, 2026.

Cllr Buchanan, the SNP group leader, said the motion was “by no means perfect” but enables scrutiny of the proposed charges, adding: “I think it is the best way forward, it gets all of the information. It works with all of those who require those services.”

Cllr Gordon Wallace, Conservative, said dropping the plans for the remainder of the council term would ensure “clarity and stability for service users and their families”.

He said his group’s amendment aimed to uphold the principle “that living within this council’s boundaries means being part of a fairer, supportive and compassionate community”.

A council official said the cost of not implementing non-residential charging at all “would be £4.5m to the council over three financial years”. Other savings or ways of generating income would be required.

Cllr Buchanan said: “We have a one-year budget which we know has been costed to take the funding from.

“To make a costing for future years, without knowing where we would generate that income, where we may make those savings, leaves us in a very risky place in terms of sound financial management.”

It has been estimated the charges would affect around 500 residents. An equalities assessment found they could put more demand on unpaid carers and “reduce opportunities” for disabled people to take part in their communities.

An official previously said non-residential care covered “social supports” such as “help to access our communities, support with shopping, day opportunities as well as building and community-based services”. Personal care is not included.

If the charges go ahead, a taper level will be set to determine how much disposable income a person should keep and how much goes towards their care. It will apply to an individual’s income rather than family income.

East Renfrewshire would be the last of six HSCPs in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area to introduce charging for non-residential care.

There were 11 votes for the Labour/SNP motion and seven for the Conservative amendment, with two independents, Annette Ireland and David Macdonald, supporting the Tories’ proposal.