DAY Care service attendance at Ludgate House Resource Centre has dramatically fallen since the introduction of charges in April, the Advertiser can reveal.

Elderly Clackmannanshire residents who use the centre can be charged up to £53 a day after the council introduced means testing for services.

The SNP administration passed the charges at the 2013/14 budget meeting and they were rolled at the start of this financial year.

The council is projected to make £200,000 through the introduction of the charges across day care, respite and telecare/Mecs.

Ludgate House provides respite and day care services for older people in Clackmannanshire with 50 day care places available each day.

Previously day care was free and since the charges have come into force the local authority says the number of people who use it has fallen by just 24, from 114 to 90.

It estimates that only seven of those quit due to the charging policy and 17 no longer required day care as they moved to residential or nursing care.

However, figures obtained by the Advertiser from a Freedom of Information request reveal that attendance at day care sessions has almost halved.

According to the statistics, users attended Ludgate House 403 times in June this year – the lowest level for over two years and almost half the number (704) of June last year.

Users have contacted the Advertiser criticising the £10.60 per hour charges applied.

While the council says it will only charge for a maximum of five hours a day and the cost includes meals and transport, it means users can be hit with a bill of up to £53.

Under means testing guidelines, drawn up by the local authority umbrella body, COSLA, councils set a income threshold for users of the service.

Charges are calculated on individuals whose income, including savings, breach that threshold – referred to as “excess income”.

There is no set percentage rate for which Scottish local authorities should charge and Clackmannanshire Council calculates charges for individuals on 75 per cent of their excess income. In addition, COSLA recommends that local authorities take on board the levels of service required by individuals with higher incomes to ensure they are not “financially disadvantaged”.

The son of an 86-year-old from Alloa said his mother, who has been attending for the past 18 months, was being charged the maximum of £53 a day.

He said, “It’s a ridiculous amount of money for half a day. She is there with people paying almost nothing. She knows other people who don’t go any more because of the charging.” The daughter of another user – an 84-year-old from Alloa – also contacted the Advertiser after her mother quit when she was told she would have to pay the maximum. She said, “If they had been reasonable charges she would have paid. They’ve gone from the sublime to the ridiculous and doing it almost overnight is unbelievable.” Her mother had attended once a week for almost four years and said she appreciated the company and staff.

She said, “She loved it. It was the only social interaction she had with friends her own age – the only time she got dressed up to go out. The COSLA guidelines state that councils should protect the mental and physical well-being of users and not do something that would be detrimental to them. If they had brought in nominal charges, say 15 or 20 pounds a day, the chances are they wouldn’t have lost as many people as they have. My mum would be in a group of about 20 to 30 people. By the time she left there was only half a dozen of them still going.” David Rennie (79), of Clackmannan, quit the service just two weeks ago because of the charges.

He had been attending once a week for the last 18 months and enjoyed the social interaction but stopped going on principle.

He said, “It was good to have a bit of company instead of sitting in the house like a vegetable. We played games and had a blether. The carers were brilliant. It was a day out I looked forward to. I know people paid more than me but it is the principle of the thing.” A spokeswoman for Clackmannanshire Council said, “The council continues to review individual circumstances and evaluates the impact of the introduction of the revised charging policy. We have also implemented Self Directed Support from 1 April 2014 which gives individuals more choice and control in relation to choosing alternatives to day care. The charging policy is reviewed annually to coincide with budget setting in February.” Day Care Client Numbers at Ludgate House Resource Centre: 2012/13 - 2013/14 - 2014/15 (Apr-Jun) Apr 717 - 598 - 456 May 563 - 502 - 433 Jun 602 - 704 - 403