NEW care charges have raised an extra £65,000 for Cumbria County Council in eight months, a meeting has heard.

Certain fees were increased in August to cover administration costs at the council for arranging care for people.

The council has stressed it carried out a three-month public consultation and did not receive any complaints about the changes.

The Care Act 2014 allows councils to recover admin fees from those with assets of over £23,250 – usually their home or savings.

Some councillors backed the move as a way of recovering some of the costs the council faced, but others expressed concerns.

The care charging policy was discussed by a scrutiny committee at a meeting in Kendal on Monday.

A report by Paul Latimer, a senior manager in adult social care for the council, said the changes had raised a “moderate £65,206” in additional income.

Cllr Claire Driver, the Labour councillor for Alston and East Fellside, asked how much engagement was done and said she feared people could be “suffering quietly” with the fees causing a future problem.

All customers impacted were written to and encouraged to contact the council if they had queries or concerns, officials said.

“There is a tendency among people not to complain,” said Cllr Keith Hitchen, the Conservative councillor for Millom Without. “People moan about it, but I wonder whether we have gone deep enough here to understand the impact.”

Cllr Andy Connell said the increases ranged from 25 per cent to eight per cent.  “The important thing to remember is that there have been no complaints,” said Mr Connell, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Appleby.

But Cllr Lawrence Fisher called some of the charges “extremely unfair”.

“These poor people can’t do anything about it, they have to either sell their house or sign up to a deferred payment agreement (DPAs) with the council,” said Cllr Fisher, the Conservative councillor for Brampton.

DPAs are a council loan to pay for the costs of residential care without someone having to sell their home, the meeting heard.

Committee chairman Cllr Mark Wilson, the Labour councillor for Ulverston East, said: “I wonder if this is good news for people and they are not going to worry about all their savings vanishing while they are in a care home?

“There is no free housing costs for everybody and just because a person has become old, infirm or ill, they still have to pay their whack.”

Cllr John Mallinson, the Conservative councillor for Houghton and Irthing, said the council was “partially recovering” its costs, not profiteering.

The charges have included a £4.50 weekly charge for arranging and monitoring care and support services, affecting more than 200 people.

In addition, the costs of non-residential care and support services has increased from £478 a week to £580 – affecting 14 people in the county.

The costs of arranging a DPA increased from £1,260 to £1,500, affecting two people.