Bid to charge old folk in Fife £10 for a day care session branded ‘unacceptable’
A bid by a cash-strapped organisation to bring in charges for day care services for older people in Fife have been thrown out by councillors.
Fife Health & Social Care Partnership (HSCP) wanted to introduce a daily attendance charge of £10 which would generate some £500,000 as it battles an overspend projected at some £34m. It also wanted to charge for its telecare service which support peoples to live within their own home, but members of the local authority’s cabinet committee vetoed that plan as well.
Councillor David Ross, leader of Fife Council, said: "The impact this would have had on some of the most vulnerable people in our communities was not acceptable.”
The decisions came as the committee studied a report annual uplift payments to third party providers, and social care charges for 2025-26 which included modest rises for meals on wheels and community alarms.
The health partnership had proposed ending free access today care centres and bringing in a daily £10 fee.
Old folk using the venues get access to care and support including a range of activities, which may include transport, and be provided with hot and cold drinks. The partnership wanted to bill them each day they attended. It argued that £10 compared favourably with other local authorities where fees were up to £14, and the move would rake in some £500,000 per year.
It pledged “an engagement process” with the people who would be affected and said they would also be offered a review “to ensure that their day service was still required to meet their ongoing care and support needed.”
The HSCP’s telecare service, which is also free, also came in for proposed new charges.
It supports people to live within their own home who require some additional help to stay safe, and while some people are currently charged for their community alarm, there are no costs charges applied for the provision of equipment linked to it and which, if activated, sparks a response from Telecare team.
The partnership wanted to bring in a £1 weekly charge for each piece of kit in the home - applicable up to a maximum of two.
It said it would create a process to waive the fees if they caused financial difficulties,but wanted to bring in the charges from October to generate income in the region of £175,000.
Council Ross said the impact on old folk was “unacceptable” and added: “We've agreed that instead we will offset any potential loss of funding for the Health and Social Care Partnership by £0.595m this year. There's no doubt that there are challenges ahead but, for this year we have managed to protect people from the financial impact that these charges would bring."
The staggering deficit faced by the partnership has to be covered, and if a risk share agreement is implemented, NHS Fife would be on the hook for about 60% of the bill, and Fife Council would be responsible for the other 40% - leaving both with millions of £s to pay.