Charity takes steps to evict disabled residents over ‘inadequate’ funding by councils: report

Care charity Leonard Cheshire has been taking steps to evict residents from its care homes after accusing several local authorities of refusing to meet rising care costs.

The charity, which supports 3,000 people in 120 care services throughout the UK, told The Guardian it could no longer afford to subsidise care services, after already spending “millions of pounds” in recent years.

Leonard Cheshire said it had served 11 eviction notices on contracts with councils that had been under negotiation without agreement since February.

Two were rescinded after councils agreed to pay uprated fees.

The fee increases reflect the rising costs of wages, energy and food.

The charity specialises in providing care for people with physical and learning disabilities and autistic people. Its average residential care package costs £85,000 a year but can go as high as £150,000, as residents often require detailed 24-hour care, with multiple highly skilled carers.

One physically disabled Leonard Cheshire resident Keith Harris, 47, who is paralysed from the neck down and requires 24-hour care, was told by his care home manager that he faced a 30-day notice eviction from his care home in Somerset.

He had been a resident at the home for more than a year, when he was told that Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) council, which funds his £90,000-a-year care package, was refusing to pay the uprated cost of his care.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “There was no discussion with me about what I wanted or my needs. I was never part of the discussion and it had been going on without me for eight months.”

At the final moment, an agreement was reached between Leonard Cheshire and BCP, and the eviction threat was withdrawn.

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “We have been working with Leonard Cheshire for several months to agree increased fee levels for their services and were disappointed that they threatened eviction in this case (Keith Harris).

“However, we have reached agreement with the provider on funding and have apologised to the family for any distress caused.”

A spokesperson for Leonard Cheshire said: “Social care is a sector in crisis following years of chronic underfunding and the absence of meaningful long-term reform. Councils urgently need a cash injection from government to address soaring costs and pressures affecting every provider. With council budgets squeezed to breaking point and further rationing of services on the horizon, funding being allocated to providers like us is sometimes simply not keeping pace with the real costs of care in many cases.  

“Disabled people with complex needs should be able to access the care they require, without providers meeting shortfalls which isn’t sustainable. There needs to be greater understanding about the higher costs involved in delivering high quality care and support for people with complex needs of all ages. The government must urgently ensure costs of care for working-age disabled people are fairly reflected in social care funding, so that those with complex needs are not potentially discriminated against by some authorities implementing local cost regimes that are out of step with reality.”

Lottie Winson