Care Charging Changes in Norfolk

A simple graphic, over an off-white, speckled background, a lilac strip runs vertically up the left hand side, and a dark purple strip runs horizontally along the bottom, with the Equal Lives logo in the bottom right. The words ‘Our statement on’ are in fine, purple text and the words ‘care charging changes in Norfolk’ are in dark purple.

As you may be aware, Norfolk County Council are changing the way Disabled people are charged for their care. Equal Lives stands against the increase in care charges. We believe that care should be free; Disabled people should not be charged for their independence. We have worked as part of the Charging Reference Group (CRG) since 2021 to try to co-produce a charging policy with NCC.  During that time, we were never shown a new draft policy. As a result, the CRG disbanded itself at the point it became clear that, despite its existence, decisions were being made by NCC without co-production or even consultation.

We fail to understand how NCC can believe that charging Disabled people more can also meet their aims of promoting independence, choice, and control. This decision will leave Disabled people poorer and therefore in greater need. We know that many Disabled people already cannot survive without financial support from friends and family, and that without this support, most are left with unavoidable negative budgets and accumulating debt. We have put this to the Council but do not feel that there is any way to change their minds.

Given this situation, we feel that changes need to be made by the national government, because the current system does not work:

• The postcode-lottery nature of social care support is different in almost every county in the UK. We see large differences in East Anglia alone. This reduces the movement of Disabled people; it is difficult to move somewhere new as a Disabled person, especially if it might mean you will receive less support than you received before.

• We are increasingly seeing Disabled people being given less choice and control over their lives including by local authorities, who have been making support plans unnecessarily restrictive.

• Through our experience as a Disabled Peoples Organisation (DPO), we have seen that meaningful co-production is not currently happening.

Therefore, we need to see the following:

• A consistent quality of Social Care across the UK (for example, what you receive in Ipswich is the same as what you receive in Norwich).

• Better funding for Social Care, urgently!

• A legal requirement on Local Authorities and the NHS to meaningfully co-produce services with Disabled people.

• All Social Care charging abolished.

Equal Lives is committed to amplifying disabled voices and has, since our inception, advocated for the ‘nothing about us, without us’ approach. With that in mind, please share your experiences and views with us by sending an email to info@equallives.org.uk.