£20 per hour for Brighton and Hove home care

Pensioners living at home in Brighton and Hove are having to pay more for council care than almost anywhere else in the country. The city has the second highest charges in the UK for the day care, on which many elderly residents and their families are forced to depend.

It bills people a starting hourly rate of £20 to receive care in their own homes, which amounts to £420 a week for someone requiring an average of three hours of care a day.

Only Surrey County Council charges more than Brighton and Hove City Council for its services.

A study revealed that pensioners only received financial help if they were paying more than £850 a week – the highest cut-off point nationally.

Brent Council, in London, was next on the list at £567 – almost £300 lower.

It was calculated that a city pensioner receiving three hours of care a day would see his savings reduced from £50,000 to just £23,000 in just 14 months.

The situation was condemned by opposition councillors and berated by Age Concern, which said the care system was crumbling.

Councillor Keith Taylor, the Green Party’s adult social care spokesman, said: “Is this the sort of future we want for our older people? I don’t call it fair or adequate.

“People pay their taxes and social security and then when they need it they have this happen to them.

“It is an increasingly expensive place for older people to live and it seems little is being done to help that.”

By comparison, the cost of an hour of home care charged by East Sussex County Council was just £13, equivalent to £273 a week for three hours a day.

West Sussex County Council operated a means-tested system.

City councillor Anne Meadows, Labour’s adult social care spokeswoman, said: “It is worrying that this Conservative council is considered one of the worst in the country when it comes to care charges.”

She said the council’s adult social care department had recently been downgraded from three star to two star by inspectors.

Coun Meadows said: “It is deeply concerning that residents in the city that need care are paying so much for a worsening service.”

Councillor Ken Norman, the city’s cabinet member for adult social care, was unavailable for comment. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers Alliance, said: “If middle management numbers on high wages are reduced then more can be invested in front line services like care for the elderly.

“Pensioners have been hit hard by council tax bills and so having to pay out large amounts for their care is a double blow.”