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Green County Councillors have raised concerns about the recent announcements of reductions to the Disability Related Expenditure (DRE) allowance as well as increases in charges for Adult Social Care Transport and home monitoring devices.
The DRE Disability Related Expenditure allowance is being reduced from 35% to 25% meaning disabled people will retain less of their benefits to meet disability-related costs. A flat fee of £10 per day is also being introduced for council-arranged transport and the weekly cost of home support Telecare services is being increased from £6 per week to £9.87. In total these changes are predicted to save the council £1.8m per annum
Greens say that whilst these changes may appear modest on paper, for many disabled residents they represent a real reduction in the financial support available to meet the unavoidable additional costs of living with a disability. While every saving contributes to balancing the books, this represents a very small proportion of the council’s overall Adult Social Care budget, which exceeds £330 million annually. The impact on individuals is therefore likely to be disproportionately greater than the financial benefit to the council.
Leader of the Green Group Ian Middleton said :
“As someone who grew up with a disabled father, I recognise how vital state support is to allow people with a disability to live as normal a life as possible. Whilst I recognise that savings have to be made, the question is not whether difficult decisions are necessary, but where we begin to make those decisions.”
“These proposals all target people with disabilities and those receiving care at home. OCC is rightly proud of its public health initiative, The Oxfordshire Way, which focuses on building resilience, leveraging local voluntary sector networks, and supporting people to remain in their own homes for longer rather than relying solely on acute health interventions. These changes would seem to fly in the face of those aims.“
“People with disabilities often face higher daily living costs that many of us never have to consider. No-one chooses to need Telecare. No-one chooses to need accessible transport. No one chooses to incur disability-related expenditure. These are not discretionary purchases, they are the costs of living with a disability. Asking people to pay more for necessities is fundamentally different from reducing spending elsewhere.”
“Before asking some of the most vulnerable residents in Oxfordshire to pay more for essential support, I would have expected every opportunity for other savings and efficiencies to have been explored. Increasing charges on disabled people should have been one of the last things we consider rather than, as it seems, the first”
The OCC Lead Spokesperson on Adult Social Care Cllr Robin Jones said :
“It’s surprising after Labour’s U-turn over PIP and disability benefit cuts, and the effect those proposals had on the former Prime Minister’s position, the Liberal Democrats are proposing to impose similar of some society’s most vulnerable people. If we are a progressive and compassionate administration, we should surely not be looking to make relatively modest savings of 0.4% of the budget by further impoverishing the most vulnerable in our society.”
“I would therefore urge Cabinet to reconsider this proposal during the consultation process. I believe the council should first examine whether further procurement savings, property rationalisation, contract management improvements, organisational efficiencies or additional use of technology could deliver equivalent reductions without directly increasing financial pressure on disabled residents.”