On 2 June, we were delighted to be part of a Zoom webinar by Inclusion London, with around 100 campaigners against care charges, across London, England and Wales.
Watch on YouTube here
Claire from WinVisible spoke at around 1:28 into the video, after Tara and Kevin from Hammersmith & Fulham.
We’re thrilled that so many campaigners are getting together, from Bournemouth, Bristol, Calderdale (West Yorkshire), Cheshire East and West, Cornwall, Essex, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Staffordshire, West Sussex, Worcestershire, and other places.
And from across London, including Brent, Camden, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston, Lambeth, Southwark.
At the webinar, we shared the different ways we are challenging care charges.
Tara Flood and Kevin Caulfield from Hammersmith & Fulham gave some background to how they won free homecare since 2015. They described how the Council is working with disabled residents to make changes. Alongside free homecare, H&F has made improvements for the community in other ways, including abolishing the use of bailiffs for Council Tax debt, and universal free school meals for primary school children, sponsored by property developers in the borough.
WinVisible spoke about the impact of charges, particularly on disabled women/women of colour, and highlighted problems with the social care policies coming from government, personal taxation proposals from Tory MPs, problems with the approach of the Women’s Budget Group and Liz Kendall, Labour Party shadow on social care.
Zara Todd spoke about the scheme in Australia and the funding shortage which arose. (Women with Disabilities Australia has also been raising problems with provision for women.)
Resources from speakers at the webinar
WinVisible statement to Health & Social Care select committee (2020)
• Inclusion London’s Social care charging resources https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/campaigns-and-policy/act-now/social-care-charging-campaigning-resources/
Petition https://you.38degrees.org.uk/…/scrap-social-care-charging
• Radio 4, File on Four programme “The Cost of Care” to be aired on 8 June at 8pm, on BBC Sounds after that: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000wrll
Survey asking about people’s situation in different places: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NRWL56H
Norfolk — won legal challenge against charges
Judicial Review Implementation and Monitoring Group Norfolk (JRIMG)
Email JRIMGnorfolk@gmail.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/233139401622944
Twitter @JrMonitoring
Link to the Norfolk case judgement
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2020/3436.html
Link to advice from Leigh Day and Matrix Chambers since the Judgement
https://www.cascaidr.org.uk/uploads/CounselsAdviceforCASCAIDrontheimplicationsoftheNorfolkDecisiononCareCharges.pdf
Hammersmith & Fulham
https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/councillors-and-democracy/co-production-doing-things-residents-not-residents
Enfield
Info from CAPE: https://mylife.enfield.gov.uk/enfield-home-page/content/financial/community-based-charges/
Discover more from WinVisible
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.