Council Cutting Care Hours? Don't Accept It Until You Know This

1. Council cutting care hours: what's happening

   0:00

   Hi, and welcome back to our page. It's happening all over the country right now. Your local authority calls a review, and out of nowhere they want to cut someone's one-to-one from 4 hours a day down to one. The person's needs haven't changed. However, the council's budget has. If this is landing on your desk, two things: don't panic and don't just accept it.

2. 0:19

   Because the Care Act gives you and the people you support far more protection than most providers realise. Let me show you exactly what the law says and how you protect that package with one thing that actually wins, evidence.

3. Why the cuts are happening

   0:31

   First, let's be honest about what's going on. Because you're not just imagining it, councils are under huge financial pressure, and a lot of them are pushing reviews hard. Actual hours only, formula-based cuts, constant reassessments, asking you the provider to send months of notes to justify support you know full well that person needs. It's exhausting, but here's what matters.

4. 0:52

   The council having a budget problem doesn't change what the law requires of them.

5. What the Care Act 2014 actually says

   0:56

   And that's where you take back control. So, let's talk about what the law actually says, because this is your ground to stand on. Yes, councils have to review care and support plans. That's their duty under section 27 of the Care Act, usually at least once a year. So, a review itself is completely normal. Care and support statutory guidance is blunt about this.

6. 1:14

   A review must not be used as a way to reduce someone's personal budget. A personal budget can only be reduced if there's been a genuine reduction in the person's needs or a real change in their circumstances. And a change in needs can only be decided through a proper reassessment, not a phone call, not a spreadsheet, not because someone upstairs said cut 10%.

7. 1:30

   And there's more. Under section 26, the personal budget has to be an amount that is actually sufficient to meet the person's genuine needs. The guidance says budgets must be accurate, sufficient, and based on the individual, not on a standard formula. So, we only find actual hours used is not on its own a lawful reason to cut.

8. 1:47

   I'm going to be straight with you because I don't want you walking into a meeting with the wrong idea. A council can lawfully reduce a package. Take the Davey versus Oxfordshire case.

9. Davey v Oxfordshire: when a cut can be lawful

   1:55

   A A budget was cut by over 40% and the courts found it lawful because the council had followed a proper evidence-based assessment.

10. 2:02

    Here's the shift. Your protection isn't standing in a room shouting, "This is illegal." It's making sure the evidence of need is so clear and so detailed that any honest reassessment has to reflect the real support the person needs. Evidence wins, not outrage. Here's how you actually do it. Record everything. Every shift, and this is the one people miss.

11. 2:19

    When someone declines support, record that you offered it and why it was needed. A person turning down a shower on a Tuesday doesn't mean the need is gone.

12. How to protect the care package with evidence

    2:27

    You still have to staff for it and your notes have to show that.

13. 2:29

    Then, break the day down by need. Don't just say, "4 hours of one-to-one." Show it. Morning transition and settling, community access, the late afternoon when the person is most likely to become distressed or unsafe. Spell out what happens and the risk. If that support isn't there, that turns 4 hours from a number into evidence need.

14. 2:46

    Then, back it up with your risk assessments, incident logs, and care plans, all telling the same story. And keep the person and their family at the centre because their wishes carry real legal weight under the well-being principle. Now, engage with the review. Don't refuse it. That helps no one. Turn up with a structured evidence pack that makes the reviewer's job easy.

15. 3:04

    Then, put the pressure back where it belongs. Ask the council in writing to set out the proposed cut and its reasons, and to show how the reduced budget will still meet the person's assessed eligible needs. Then, the burden's on them to prove it's efficient.

16. Challenge the cut and escalate properly

    3:16

    And the ombudsman has found councils at fault for failing to do just that. And if the process is flawed or the new budget clearly won't meet needs, there's a path. The person or their family can use the council's complaints procedure, then the local government and social care ombudsman. They may be entitled to an independent advocate under the Care Act.

17. 3:32

    For a serious dispute, get proper legal advice. And one last thing, and please hear me. When you're backed into a corner, the temptation is to say, "Fine, we'll withdraw." Never use the people you support as a bargaining chip. Any changes to a placement must be planned, safe, and lawful. Address the sustainability concerns properly in writing, but their safety comes first, always.

18. 3:50

    So, to wrap this up, the cuts are real, the pressure is real, and you're not imagining how relentless it's become. But, the CARE Act gives you and the people you support real protection, and your most powerful weapon is the evidence you build every single shift. If you want to keep the conversation going, make sure to comment in the comment section.

19. 4:07

    And thank you for watching, and we'll catch you in the next video.

Transcribed from the video's captions and lightly edited. Where the wording differs, the video is the record.