SOME social services users could be hundreds of pounds worse off under a shake-up of the way their care is funded, it is feared.

Bournemouth council is changing the way it pays people who control their own care budgets and hire their own help.

Wheelchair user Jane Cuthbert has been told she will lose £680 in payments that cover insurance, payroll and management costs for her team of five carers.

She is not sure how much she will receive from social services in future and has spent six weeks waiting for answers to her letters to the council.

Jane, who has used a wheelchair since a brain haemorrhage around 14 years ago, was one among the first people to take up “self-directed support” – which involves service users being given a budget from the council to spend on their own care.

She receives around £1,033 a month – a figure unchanged since 2008 – to pay for the services of five personal assistants.

She has been told the £680 a year towards the administrative costs employing them will be withdrawn and replaced by a one-off payment of £52 for “sundry costs”. The council has said the admin costs will be reflected in a new hourly rate for care, but she is still waiting for information six weeks after writing to the council with her concerns.

“I took the time and effort to write well thought out, serious letters with various comments and questions. I expected them to be taken seriously and answered by those I wrote to.

“I think not to hear from either is an utter disgrace,” she said.

She said the changes will not save money because other service users will come out of the changes better-off.

“At a time of cuts, how much exactly has this fiasco cost? When jobs are being cut, how can the council justify the expense of reviewing each person’s payments again?” she said.

Judith Geddes, executive director for adult and community services, said in a statement: “The council is currently undertaking an intensive review of all direct payments given to our service users.

“This is to ensure that public money is being spent wisely and is fairly distributed to make sure that all individual care needs can continue to be met.

“We will be writing to each service user individually to explain the changes and the outcome of the review.”