Council defends scrapping ‘generous’ cap on social care charges

Hackney Council has pushed through controversial changes to social care charging in the borough despite widespread opposition and concerns over the impact on disabled residents.

The local authority has officially scrapped its £250 per week cap on how much residents pay towards at-home care as of 7 September, 16 months after the policy was first mooted by the previous Labour administration.

Councillors justified lifting the “generous” limit, saying it was fairer to residents and brought Hackney in line with the statutory minimum support set by the government and offered by other councils.

But the public consultation, held between July and October 2025, drew criticism from a majority of respondents, 66 per cent of whom were adult social care users (173 people).

In all, 180 of the 274 people who answered the question opposed scrapping the cap. Many said they were on low incomes or dependent on welfare and could not afford to see their care costs go up.

The majority of people with income or savings over £23,250 – the statutory threshold for social care support – argued that it was unfair for the council to demand more money for care that was already expensive, particularly for disabled people.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has since spoken to one self-funding disabled resident whose care bill is set to triple from £1,000 to roughly £3,000 a month.

Equalities gap

The council’s wider package of reforms to its care charging policy was approved by the council’s cabinet in December 2025 without a finalised Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA).

The only EIA published for the policy is a draft attached to the May 2025 cabinet report, in which the section requiring the council to show how its equalities findings had influenced its decision was left blank.

The December report referred back to that assessment rather than publishing an updated one.

The council maintains that a completed EIA review exists and is available “upon request”. Despite asking, the LDRS is yet to receive it.

Who pays

Under the Care Act 2014, people with savings, investments or capital exceeding £23,250 are generally expected to fund their own care.

However, for many years Hackney Council placed a maximum £250 weekly charge for non-residential adult social care, meaning that many residents with income or savings beyond £23,250 continued getting financial support.

Lifting the cap is estimated to recover roughly £150,000 per year for the council, which has seen social care demand leap by 40 per cent since 2019/20.

The borough is forecast to spend a net £123 million on adult social care in the 2026/27 financial year – almost 29 per cent of its net revenue budget, according to council papers. Wider reforms to its care charging policy are expected to claw back £416,000 a year.

When first proposing to lift the cap in May 2025, the council made the case that the borough’s multi-million-pound overspend necessitated budget cuts.

Then-cabinet member Chris Kennedy told cabinet: “The poorest and most vulnerable 60 per cent of that 1.8 per cent pay absolutely nothing for their care, and this proposal does not propose that they pay anything for their care.”

He added: “It is our wealthier residents, and it’s the wealthier 40 per cent of residents who are Care Act eligible, who are affected by everything that we are proposing to consult on.” Its report to cabinet said removing the cap itself “will only impact our 139 self funders who are recorded as able to afford the maximum cost of care” – about 4 per cent of care users.

The council says 60 per cent of people receiving care at home pay nothing towards it, while the other 40 per cent have been assessed as able to contribute.

However, of the 1,089 users whose financial records the council holds, 373 were classed as paying “nil charge”, roughly 34 per cent.

This sample excluded the roughly 1,900 care users whose financial information it did not hold, either because it was lost in the 2020 cyber attack or because those residents failed to submit financial assessment forms. It is not clear if, or how, the council has drawn the 60 per cent figure from the borough’s 2,700–3,000 total care users.

Rising bills

The council’s own consultation included case studies of how the changes would impact certain residents. For instance, an 85-year-old bed-bound woman receiving at-home care would see her costs jump by up to 25 per cent to £429 per week if the cap was lifted.

The Hackney resident the LDRS spoke to, whose care costs are projected to triple, preferred not to be named but said many would face a similar situation to his as they “suddenly have to find £2,000 a month in cash or whittle down their savings until they no longer have £23,000 left of any sort of assets”.

Neighbouring boroughs

When discussing the policy change in December 2025, then-cabinet member for health, adult social care, voluntary sector and culture, Chris Kennedy (Labour), justified scrapping the cap by telling colleagues it would “bring us in line with the vast majority of other local authorities so that what happens here is exactly the same as what happens over the border in Islington or over the border in Tower Hamlets”.

However, Tower Hamlets abolished non-residential homecare charges completely from April 1 2025, making it a universal support irrespective of income. Hammersmith & Fulham similarly provides free at-home care for eligible older and disabled residents.

Newham Council previously capped weekly charges for non-residential care at £400, but voted to remove this in December 2024, with effect from January 2025.

Hackney Council insists the “principles” of its assessment criteria are unchanged – that residents are assessed by their “ability to pay” under national Care Act guidance.

However, further planks of its care charging policy are different: the council now measures 100 per cent of residents’ assessable income – an increase from 75 per cent – and raised the amount of service costs billed to care users from 92 per cent to 100 per cent.

Post-consultation, the council dropped additional proposals to reduce the amount of disability benefits it disregards from residents’ income when calculating care costs, after the majority of respondents objected.

Income deprivation

According to the government’s English Indices of Deprivation 2025, 54.7 per cent of Hackney residents aged 60 and over live in income-deprived households – the second-highest proportion in England, after Tower Hamlets (61.1 per cent).

When asked by the LDRS, Age UK did not confirm whether it had taken part in the consultation.

The LDRS also understands that Choice in Hackney, the borough’s primary Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisation, was not a consultee. In fact, the organisation’s CEO was unaware the cap was being lifted.

According to council reports, two unnamed voluntary or community groups responded to the public consultation.

Age UK has advised older residents to seek independent advice as soon as possible if they are affected by the social care charges.

A spokesperson for the charity said: “At a time when many older people are facing growing financial pressures, it is vital that residents have access to clear information, advice and advocacy so they can access the support they are entitled to and make informed choices about the care and treatment they receive.

“Many people in Hackney are entitled to benefits, grants and other forms of financial support that they are not currently claiming, including disability-related benefits, attendance allowance and Pension Credit.”

Policy delays

The proposals were brought to cabinet in May 2025 by Labour’s Chris Kennedy, then cabinet member for health, adult social care, voluntary sector and culture, and approved by the Labour cabinet in December 2025.

Council officers originally recommended the changes come into effect in April 2026 to coincide with the new financial year, roughly a month before the local elections, when a new Green administration was voted in. The policy was eventually implemented on 7 September, under the new Green administration. It is not clear when or which administration set the final date.

The council told the LDRS that residents facing broader cost-of-living struggles can access Hackney’s Crisis and Resilience Fund, which provides money for essentials like food, housing, heating, water and electricity.

“Despite the huge pressures all councils face in funding social care, in Hackney we are clear that those on the lowest incomes do not have to pay for their care, while those who are asked to contribute only do so based on a fair and transparent affordability assessment,” a council spokesperson said.

“The changes to our care charging policy have been made carefully and transparently, and bring Hackney in line with other local authorities and national guidance.”

Following enquiries from the LDRS, the council updated its website on Friday 18 September to report on the consultation.

It states: “Before any changes are made to a resident’s care bill, the Care Charging Team will carry out an individual financial assessment to review their personal circumstances. This will determine if the contribution needs to change and, if so, by exactly how much. No new charges will start without us contacting a resident first.”

The council adds that all residents will have been written to “in advance” of 7 September, and that most will not be invoiced for new charges until November 2026.