A NEW system under which the majority of Bolton’s social care recipients will face increased costs has been approved.

The removal of £300 per week cap on the amount people contribute to their own non-residential care was approved at a meeting of the council’s cabinet yesterday.

The move is part of a package of cuts intended to save the council £550,000.

The revised policy for charging will now come into effect from April 1 this year.

Speaking at the meeting, acting council leader Linda Thomas said: the funding of social care was an issue town hall bosses had been ‘grappling with’ for many years.

She continued: “Unfortunately when it’s come to social care, it’s one of our largest departments and we can’t shield it from cuts. This is the eventuality of it.”

Some 40 per cent of the 677 per cent of people who responded to the council consultation of the plans aid the proposal would have a ‘considerable impact’ on them.

Council estimates suggest that almost 1,100 of the 1,519 people expected to be affected by the new system will face an increase of less than £5 per week.

But people with high care costs and high levels of disposable income, the increase could be as much as £300.

Conservative leader, Cllr David Greenhalgh said the council report on the proposals was ‘complex and thorough’ but expressed concerns that people who had ‘made provision’ via savings would be penalised more than those who may have been on similar incomes, who failed to do so.