Charging for Services

People with a learning disability are often dependent on services such as home help, meals on wheels, day centres, shopping, and help with personal care. They are called domiciliary services or non-residential services.

Day services, such as day centres, not only offer respite for parents and carers but also provide an opportunity for people with a learning disability to develop new skills and access a range of community and leisure facilities. They can enable people with a learning disability to move into work, continuing education or in the community.

Social Services authorities have a discretionary power to charge for certain non-residential
services. For adult services, this power is provided through the Social Care Charges
(Wales) Measure 2010, which gives councils a discretionary power to charge adult recipients of non-residential services.

Guidance is given to local authorities from the Welsh Government about charging policies for all non-residential services under Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 which says that councils may recover such charges, as they consider reasonable in respect of relevant services, for which charges may be levied.