Cheshire West pays back £840k from 'unfair' care fee to over-55s

A total of £840,000 is being paid back by Cheshire West and Chester Council to around 400 ‘band one’ residents across nine extra care facilities.

It follows a five-year battle between CWAC and residents at Abbotswood, in Chester, who became aware of a weekly £23.95 charge to cover the cost of band one care after moving into their homes.

That charge was cut down to £17.59 in 2016 and has now been reduced to £6 following a review last year – but some residents insist they should not have to pay the fee.

Barry Fielding, who served as a police officer for 32 years, moved to Abbotswood in April 2015 and says he became aware of the charges in the months that followed.

He said: “I was getting envelopes through the letterbox addressed ‘to the occupier’, so I threw them in the bin. Then I got one addressed to Mr B Fielding. I opened it and it told me about this charge.

“I called the phone number on the invoice and asked what it was for. The woman on the phone said it was for the buzzer system. I said ‘take it out, I don’t need it’ but she said they couldn’t do that.

Abbotswood, in Chester. Image: Google Maps

“It took me quite a while to muster up the courage not to pay the charge because these were debts that were incurring if we did not pay them, and I was not used to that sort of lifestyle.

“It went on, and on, and on. I felt like I was going to be put before the County Court but that never happened.”

What extra care housing is

Extra care housing is for the over-55s who want to live independently but can still access care if or when it is required.

There are nine extra care facilities across the borough – Abbotswood, Deva Point and Kingswood in Chester, Hartley Place and Hollymere in Ellesmere Port, Anderton Place in Northwich, Hazelmere in Winsford, The Windings in Helsby and Hallwood in Neston.

Flats can be rented or purchased from housing associations, with Abbotswood run by Your Housing Group.

Care packages are arranged through the council, with band one – the lowest of five bands – including an emergency pull cord with 24-hour response from on-site staff.

'Frightening to an older person'

Angela Hetherington became aware of the charge one month after moving into the apartment she bought at Abbotswood in May 2015, despite previously filling a form to say she had no care needs.

After more than two years of meetings with the council, Angela queried whether the charge was lawful under the Care Act, which states that any care needs must be agreed following an assessment and detailed in a care plan.

Angela submitted a subject access request to CWAC in December 2018 asking for data the council held about her.

She discovered the authority recorded that she needed support for isolation – despite saying she had no issues in the 2014 form – and other residents have since made similar discoveries.

Angela said: “Elderly people now know that the council have been able to say anything they like about them, create all this paperwork and charge them for something they knew nothing about.

Anderton Place, in Northwich. Image: Google Maps

“That is frightening to an older person if they realise that the council has that capability with no comeuppance whatsoever. There is nobody to say ‘actually, you cannot do that’.

“Now they are going to do it again with this £6 charge. There is no foundation for that charge whatsoever, it is a nonsense, but people are frightened to challenge the council.

“I just want them to stop because it is wearing me out. I have lost count of the number of meetings they have had with people here – people are just confused and sick to death of it all.”

Some Abbotswood residents who continued to challenge the lower £17.59 fee were offered to have it cut to just £4 a week in early 2018 if they agreed not to disclose the arrangement.

'You feel like somebody is trying to hoodwink you'

In June 2018, a couple at Abbotswood went to the Local Government Ombudsman about the issue and had their complaint upheld, leading to CWAC scrapping their charge.

Following a further review of the charge, CWAC’s cabinet agreed to reduce it again to £6 a week at part two of last November’s meeting, held away from the press and public.

Abbotswood resident Gail Coelho said: “They can take the pull cord out if they want to – I don’t have a care need.

“You feel like somebody is trying to hoodwink you. They think that just because you are older you are not going to protest, so they can just impose a charge.

Hazlemere, in Winsford. Image: Google Maps

“The other worrying thing is that it could impact on the value of your property because how is anyone going to sell up with all these issues that are unresolved and lurking about?

“I love living here don’t get me wrong – it suits me down to the ground – but all this other stuff is very frustrating.”

What the council says

Council chiefs say they require a charge to cover the cost for the 24-hour service, which many band one residents welcome and take advantage of, and CWAC is committed to keeping that available.

A CWAC committee discussed the issue in June 2018, and were told that ‘although residents’ needs may be minimal at present’, the council expects ‘their needs would increase over time’.

The council says it acted ‘incorrectly’ by ‘collecting and storing data on band one residents when it should not have done’.

It has apologised to residents affected and offered £100 compensation on top of refunding the higher charge – a move backed by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Cllr Val Armstrong, cabinet member for adult social care and health, said: “The concerns raised are longstanding and we acknowledge that steps taken to address residents’ concerns in the past were not sufficient.

“As a result of [last year’s] investigation we found that data had been incorrectly stored under the Care Act and for this the council has offered residents a full apology.

“We also found that the charges applied to band one residents were too high and have made sure that all residents received regular updates on the improvements we were making to remedy these issues.”

Cllr Armstrong says that help is being offered to residents concerned about paying the new ‘fair charge of £6’, which the council insists is ‘not connected with its Care Act obligations’.

She added: “We are working hard to ensure such a situation does not occur again.

"Directors and senior managers are ensuring policies and procedures are up-to-date and reflect current legislation and good practice guidance.”

Your Housing Group has confirmed that five ombudsman cases were brought against it with allegations of mis-selling to Abbotswood residents, but ‘all returned with no maladministration’.

Police and trading standards have also dismissed allegations of mis-selling involving homes at Abbotswood, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands.