By Don Mort, local democracy reporter
Care providers in Leeds have warned that the cost of looking after vulnerable people is rising faster than council funding.
Concerns were raised that residential and home care organisations may have to cut back on services in a Leeds City Council debate.
Council leaders insisted there was enough capacity in the care sector and services were improving.
In May, they decided to raise the fees paid to providers, by five per cent for home care and 3.5 per cent for residential homes.
But a scrutiny board was told the increases would not keep pace with higher National Insurance and wage costs, leaving smaller care homes at risk.
Marilou Bree, manager of family-run Alexandra Court in West Park, said: “It’s not just a business. It’s a family legacy built on care, compassion and commitment to our community.
“But for the first time in our history I am seriously concerned that we won’t be able to continue.
“The proposed 3.5 per cent uplift is simply not viable for small homes like mine.”
Care funding was debated after opposition councillors filed a formal “call-in” request for the fee increase decision to be re-considered.
The request, led by Conservative Harewood member Sam Firth, raised concerns over whether care providers were properly consulted.
It said: “We are concerned that the fee uplift proposals are insufficient and will ultimately impact on vulnerable service users as providers struggle to meet financial challenges.”
The request was defeated in a vote by councillors on the Adults, Health and Active Lifestyles scrutiny board on Monday.
Fiona Venner, Labour’s executive member for health and well-being and Kirkstall councillor, said there was an over-supply of care home places.
She said: “It’s really not our view that choice for people looking for a care home place is being compromised.”
A council report said a fee increase of 1.6 per cent was first proposed for home care. But that was raised to five per cent after some providers said they may pull out of running services.
An extra £3.7m was found for the budget for fee increases, bringing it to £13.5m.
Council tax write off
More than £650,000 in council tax is to be written off after it was decided the cash could not be recovered.
Leeds City Council decided it would not be able to collect some funds still outstanding from the financial years 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Some of the cash was owed by people who had been made bankrupt, along with others who had died, a council report said.
The report said: “Each individual debt has been individually reviewed and revenue management considered that there is no realistic prospect of collection.”
Some £311,300 was outstanding from 2010-11 and £344,000 from the following year.
The report pointed out that the amounts to be written off represented a small percentage of the council’s total liability – around 0.1 per cent for both years.
Outstanding council tax remained payable when a householder had died. But the debt sometimes had to be written off if they had no assets.
Enforcement agencies were used if a council tax payer had disappeared without paying, but some could not be traced.
The report said “There are occasions when residents abscond leaving debts. In all cases concerted efforts are made to trace the debtor.”
In cases of financial hardship, debts were cancelled when recovery action had been exhausted.
The report said: “For bankruptcies, these debts are only written off if the insolvency practitioners report that there are no assets out of which the creditors can be paid.”
Council tax in Leeds was increased by 4.99 percent this year as the authority sought to make more than £100m in savings.
The annual increase councils are allowed to make includes a “social care precept” to help cover the cost of looking after vulnerable people.