Долги жителей Девона перед советом по уходу за пожилыми достигли 66 млн фунтов

Devon’s population is getting older and that’s a problem when it comes to paying for care. At just one of Devon’s councils that oversees adult social care, a debt of nearly £66 million has built up that consists of invoices to residents that have so far been unpaid. When people go into care, an assessment is carried out to determine how much of their care fees they can cover and their local authority bills them for the cash. But an array of complications can arise, with two of the most notable issues being that the individual in care can’t sell their house to pay the fees because their spouse still lives there, or, sadly, the individual dies and the council needs to wait for the probate process to complete to hopefully secure the monies owed. Devon County Council’s health and adult care scrutiny committee heard in June that the authority’s care-related debt was now £65.8 million, and almost certainly set to rise. Assessing the debt figure, around £25 million is less than a year old. Only about £7.8 million of the total debt is ‘secured’ – meaning there is some form of legal claim to an asset whose value covers the money owed. And around a third of the debt is linked to deceased estates. Deferred payment agreements, which allow payment once financial circumstances allow – such as through the sale of a property – are common but the rise in debt is nevertheless something being watched. Back in 2023, the BBC reported that 60,000 people across England were being chased for care-related debt. Population outlook Data from the Office for National Statistics doesn’t paint a great picture for Devon’s population. More than a quarter of the population – 26.3 per cent – is aged 65 and above – which is a figure that is higher than the majority of other councils in Britain. And it’s risen since the early 1990s. Meanwhile, only 58.2 per cent of the county’s population is aged between 16-64, a figure that has been falling, while the number of 0-15-year-old children is only 15.5 per cent of the population – also down since 1991. One obvious outcome of this means the proportion of the population likely to need care is rising at a time when the quantum of economically active residents falls. That is a growing concern nationally, too, with the UK’s, with the birth rate falling to the lowest in 50 years, according to official figures released in May by the ONS. In 2025, births in England and Wales fell for the fourth year in a row to 585,396 in England and Wales – their lowest level in nearly half a century, the data showed. Last year, ONS data revealed Sidmouth had the highest proportion of residents aged over 90 – at 6 per cent of the town’s residents compared to 0.6 per cent nationally. Burgeoning issues Beyond the slow-moving super-tanker that is demographics, a more immediate concern relates to the structures in place to support the elderly when they need care. With the prospect of local government reorganisation (LGR) hitting Devon, there are fears the huge and expensive responsibility for overseeing adult social care could be reorganised at a time when avoidable interruptions feel like an exorbitant burden. These changes could mean that Devon County Council – and Plymouth and Torbay councils – which all oversee adult social care for their respective populations, might be carved up or expanded – prompting a wholesale reorganisation of each of their social care teams. Councillor Jess Bailey (Independent, Otter Valley), who chairs the health and adult care scrutiny committee, said when the issue of care debt arose at its June meeting, it was the first time she believed it had been mentioned in her five years on the committee. “It is a difficult balancing act because on the one hand, you have the people in care who need that support, but then you have the wider taxpayers of Devon,” she said. She acknowledged the money was effectively tied up until it was repaid, and so couldn’t support other services in the meantime. “I also have a concern that while the council has reduced the amount of time people are waiting for a financial assessment in relation to their care needs – which is a positive – we need to make sure that if it looks like the debt will rise that we are securing it and recovering it,” she said. “I don’t want to see that figure rising, and so what the committee will be doing in the autumn is doing some targeted work to understand more about it.” Rising debt A Devon County Council spokesperson said: “We are currently seeing an increase in overall debt levels. “This is primarily because the value of new charges is exceeding the rate at which repayments are being received. “The council has a range of measures in place to manage and recover outstanding balances, including promoting Direct Debit as a simple and cost-effective payment method, and taking legal recovery action where appropriate to ensure public funds are safeguarded.” It noted that other local authorities who had adult social care responsibilities were “also experiencing increasing levels of debt”. “However, direct comparisons are challenging, and debt levels can vary significantly due to local factors such as demographics, levels of deprivation, and the proportion of individuals who are responsible for the full cost of their care,” the spokesperson added. It noted the £65.8m related to charges for adult social care in the 2025/26, including residential and nursing care, and that everyone receiving those services had a financial assessment unless exempt. “In most cases, individuals are required to contribute towards the cost of their care, based on their financial circumstances,” the council said. “They are expected to pay their assessed contributions direct to the council.” The spokesperson added that some of the outstanding debt relates to the estates of deceased individuals where repayment is dependent on the completion of the probate process, which can delay the release of funds. “Additional delays may arise where there is no appointed individual to manage the estate, or where settlement is contingent on the sale of a property,” the spokesperson added. Status quo The King’s Fund has researched the efforts by national government to reform social care, and notes successive attempts. Tony Blair said in 1997 he didn’t want children growing up in a country where the only way pensioners could get long-term care was by selling their own home, yet Labour opted to reject the Sutherland Commission Report’s suggestion of free personal care. And while the Personal Care at Home Bill was published and received royal assent in April 2010, it was never implemented because no source of funding had been identified. Overhauls and reforms have neared implementation several times since then, but have never actually been put into place. With Devon County Council set to receive reduced funding levels from government over the next two years – meaning council tax is increasingly being leaned upon to help fund services – this is an issue that is unlikely to get better any time soon.