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The Minimum Income Guarantee for disabled adults accessing social care is to be increased by 7%, giving working-age adults who receive social care a £400 cash boost.
Over 150,000 adults with disabilities will benefit from the above-inflation uplift, helping ease financial pressures and ensure they have enough for everyday essentials such as food, heating, and bills. Those eligible for the disability premium, an additional amount for people with greater disability needs, will keep up to £510 more per year.
The changes form part of the government’s action to support those who need it most with the cost of living, while reforming adult social care and improving independence.
Minimum Income Guarantee and cost of living
Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock said: “We are determined to not only reform adult social care but do it in a way that helps some of the most vulnerable people in society with the daily pressures they face.
“From April, more than 150,000 disabled adults will keep hundreds of pounds more each year – putting extra money back into their pockets to help with everyday costs.”
The Minimum Income Guarantee is the legally mandated minimum amount of money that local councils must allow individuals to keep for personal expenses after paying for home-based social care.
Disabled groups have campaigned for a fundamental review of the Minimum Income Guarantee, to ensure that the level leaves disabled people with enough money to live on, as some disabled people on benefits pay disproportionately high contributions to their care costs. This situation has been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis, leading some to discontinue essential care and support.
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Benefits and costs of care
Mencap, which has campaigned on this issue for many years, said it was pleased that Ministers had listened to people with a learning disability about how social care charging impacts their household costs and overall wellbeing.
Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of Mencap, said: “Our ultimate aim is to build a society where social care is free at the point of need and where no one with a learning disability has to use their benefits to pay for care. This inflation busting 7% is a welcome step in the right direction.”
Disability Rights UK, however, said that even with the inflationary increase, the Minimum Income Guarantee is nowhere near an acceptable level to enable a good quality of life for disabled people who are drawing on care and support
Dan White, policy and campaigns officer, added: “For some years, the Government failed to uprate the Minimum Income Guarantee, and it is now completely out of step with where it should be. We also need a review of disability-related expenditure, as the cost-of-living crisis has made all aspects of life more expensive for disabled people.”
From April, the Personal Expenses Allowance, financial support for those in residential care, and the Minimum Income Guarantee for all other age groups (over-65s) will increase by 3.8%.
