Social Services Charging Policy

Fees and Charges

Fees and charges are governed in part by legislation and in part by local financial policies.  These will be set at a level that will allow for the recovery of the full cost to the local authority. These will be reviewed as part of the budget process each year. Charges for services will not exceed the cost of providing or arranging the care and support or what can be sourced through direct payments. Charges will apply from the date the service started or, if the service has changed the new charge will apply from the date the service changed.  Service users/financial representatives will be notified of changes to fees and charges. This will include notification of the date from which these will be applied. It may be necessary to retrospectively apply changes to fees and charges and when this happens PCC will take a reasonable approach to collection of these charges.

The charge to the service user will be determined as part of the financial assessment. The charge will be invoiced or deducted from a Direct Payment / Day Opportunity award, after a financial statement setting out the charge/contribution has been provided. For a list of fees and charges please see: Social Services fees and charges 

There is usually a delay between the start of the service and the first invoice. This is usually due to a delay in receiving complete financial information for the financial assessment. When this happens the charge will apply from the start date of the service. It is important that sufficient money is retained in order to pay the first bulk payment. If a service user/financial representative has failed to retain sufficient funds for this purpose, they should contact the Debt Recovery team to arrange a repayment schedule.  A repayment schedule for this purpose will typically be spread across 3-6 months.

It is unfortunate that sometimes there may be a misunderstanding about if and when a care charge will be applied or what type of charge should be applied. In these circumstances Pembrokeshire County Council will notify the service user/financial representative of the error and will apply a 2 month notice period before the correct charge will be applied.

Non-Residential fees and charges

For non-residential services the Welsh Government sets a weekly maximum that a person may be charged. If a service user is in receipt of more than one type of non-residential service then the cost of all of these will be added together and one care charge, up to the weekly assessed charge/weekly maximum (whichever is lowest.) will apply. 

Flat rate charges

Flat rate charges will be set for low level, low cost care and support, such as community alarms, administration costs and assistive technology solutions etc. These flat rate charges will also apply when people opt for a direct payments option for these services. Flat rate charges will not exceed the cost incurred to arrange or provide the related care and support. For flat rate charges, financial assessments will only be offered and undertaken where it is considered that; either separately or together with other care and support charges; the flat rate charges will have an adverse impact on a person’s income.