Mum fears for autistic son over care charge change

A mother whose son is autistic fears proposed changes to council service costs will mean she can no longer afford his "vital" respite care.

Jo Brearton, from Wibsey, Bradford, is a full-time carer for her 26-year-old son Danny Durn, who is also non-verbal.

His only structured support is attending an activity centre one day a week but potential changes to adult social care charges had put that under threat, Ms Brearton said.

The council said no decision had yet been made and each person's financial circumstances would be "reassessed before any new charge was calculated".

Bradford Council decides how much a person should pay towards their care services by carrying out a financial assessment which must leave them with a government-set minimum income each month.

The authority's current policy allows people to keep 25% above that basic income.

But a consultation is under way over plans to remove this extra amount, which the council calls a "discretionary buffer".

Ms Brearton, who pays £21.90 a week for her son to use the Big Soup centre in Bradford, said that meant the cost of Danny's care would rise to £71.60.

"If this comes in then I'll have to pull him out and then we've got nothing," she said.

"It's vital but I can't find an extra £200 a month out of thin air."

The proposals come as the cash-strapped authority is facing significant financial challenges.

Earlier this month it approved a 9.9% tax rise - the biggest in the country - to help plug a £50m annual hole in its finances.

Ms Brearton said the thought of not being able to access help for her son had taken its toll on her mental health.

"What do we do? Where do we go? We've got no social worker or anything.

"It's always been the same ever since he was diagnosed when he was three.

"It's like, just living at home is fine and we should get on with it."

Ms Brearton said people did not see the nights when she was "just crying".

"When he has a full meltdown, and you're trying to stop a full-grown man from harming himself, that's hard," she said.

A spokesperson for the council said it provided adult social care "to over 4,000 people who live in the community and have a disability, long-term health problem or are older people to enable them to live independently at home".

The council said unlike the NHS, the service was not free.

The spokesperson added: "Bradford Council has written to everyone who is in receipt of adult social care community care services, to inform them that the council is currently consulting on a proposal to change their charge.

"The council is encouraging people to get involved and feedback on what they think of the proposal and what impact it may have."

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