Woman with Down's Syndrome in claim against council over charges for care, saying she would be unable to pay for supported independent living

A 24-year-old woman who has Down’s Syndrome and learning difficulties is to challenge new charges for care imposed by Norfolk County Council.

Law firm Leigh Day, which is acting for her, said her family feared the new charge would leave her with insufficient money to pay for supported independent living.

The claim stated that Norfolk cut her minimum income guarantee (MIG) from £189 to £151.45 a week and decided to include all of the enhanced daily rate living personal independence payment as part of the calculation of her contribution to care charges from April 2020. 

Leigh Day said this meant she had to contribute from her benefits to her care and the cost of a personal assistant at her supported work experience placement, giving a 35% income reduction which left too little money to put towards supported independent living.

Solicitor Rowan Smith argued that Norfolk’s charging policy discriminated against severely disabled people not in work, contrary to Article 14 ECHR read with Article 1 of Protocol 1 and Article 8, and also indirectly discriminated against adults with Down’s Syndrome, contrary to sections 19 and 29 Equality Act 2010. The claim also said Norfolk failed to discharge its public sector equality duty.

A Norfolk spokesperson said: “We believe our decisions on the MIG level have been made properly, the process having been tested by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, and will defend our decision making process in any review.”

Mark Smulian