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 Share your views on proposed changes to adult social care charges

Public consultation on policy for care at home or in the community

We are seeking views on proposed changes to how much adults pay for care at home or in the community, aimed at bringing our approach in line with national guidance.

A 12-week public consultation is now open on proposed updates to our adult social care charging policy.

Adult social care laws allow councils to ask people to contribute towards the cost of their care and set out how much can be charged.

In Surrey, we’ve been charging people less than the national guidance recommends for home and community-based care. However, when less money is collected through charging, there’s less funding available to run and improve the care services that many people rely on.

To help ensure that adult social care remains sustainable for the future, we’re proposing key changes to our charging policy for home and community care services.

Adult social care in Surrey is a large service, supporting more than 20,000 people at any given time. These proposed changes would help us continue to support those who need it most, and bring us in line with practice in most other councils around the country.

We are not proposing changes to the policy for people living in residential or nursing care, where charging is already in line with national guidance.

The proposals

The first proposal would affect people who have capital above £23,250. Capital means the money or assets that people own (such as savings in the bank or building society) and does not include the value of the property they live in.

We are proposing a change so that if someone has more than £23,250 in capital, they would need to pay the full cost of their care. At the moment, the threshold amount is £24,500.

The second proposal is about how we work out what people pay for their care if they have capital between £14,250 and £23,250. If someone has capital between the lower threshold of £14,250 and the proposed amended upper threshold of £23,250, we are proposing to add a little bit of extra money each week - £1 for every £250 of capital - to what they pay. This is known as charging 'tariff income' - where an amount of savings is treated like weekly income. The maximum amount of tariff income would be £36.00 per week.

How to share your views

Consultation questionnaire

Full details of the proposals, and a questionnaire for people to share their views, can be found on the Surrey Says website.

The consultation starts on Monday 16 June 2025 and runs until 23:59 on Sunday 7 September 2025.

Drop-in sessions

We will be holding in-person events to help with any queries about the changes and to offer people support to share their views. The drop-in sessions will be taking place at the following libraries on these dates:

Alternative formats

Alternative formats of the questionnaire and Adult Social Care Charging Policy Proposal (in Easy Read, Large Print and Screen Reader Accessible formats) are also available to download from the Surrey Says online platform. Additionally, they can be requested in hard copy (including a stamped addressed envelope to return the questionnaire), using the following contact details:

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  • Reviewed: 19 Jun 2025