SELF-FUNDING care home residents in East Renfrewshire are paying “eye-watering” average fees of almost £47,000 a year for accommodation alone, it has been revealed.

The figure does not include the cost of care, which East Renfrewshire Council contributes towards.

Labour MSP Paul O’Kane, who represents the local area as part of his West Scotland remit, is among those urging the Scottish Government to intervene.

“These eye-watering fees are not what people who require care should have to think about, never mind pay,” said Mr O’Kane, who is also Shadow Minister for Public Health and Social Care.

“There is something terribly unfair that people have to pay extortionate amounts of money to receive something so essential and important as daily care.”

The estimated average annual charge for fully or mainly self-funded long-stay residents, without nursing care, in care homes across East Renfrewshire is £46,748.

Figures for board and lodgings at care homes in council areas across Scotland were released in response to a parliamentary question raised by another Labour MSP, Alex Rowley, after the Scottish Government published a draft Bill for a new National Care Service, which it said would end the “postcode lottery” of care for frail elderly and disabled people.

The highest charge was found in Edinburgh, at more than £68,000.

Across Scotland, the average was £51,740.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has pledged there will be a greater focus on home care, with older people supported by loved ones in their own community “where possible.”

However, there has been some criticism that the Bill does not include a cap on the amount people are expected to pay for care in residential homes.

Care home providers have blamed soaring energy bills and food prices for rising fees, as well as costs related to the Covid pandemic, such as improved air conditioning and PPE.

An employment crisis in the sector also means providers are having to increase staff wages, while insurance bills have also risen.

Providers who took part in a consultation for the National Care Service Bill have described a “chasm” between the amount self-funders are charged and those who do not pay for care in costs agreed under the National Care Home contract.

Mr O’Kane said Scottish Labour was “very clear” at its party conference in March that it would seek to end residential care fees for all over-65s who require it and that would be with a view to preventing people being charged as their need for care increases.

He added: “Sadly, the SNP’s National Care Service plans said very little about residential care charges and given that, in the last few days, they couldn’t bring themselves to immediately bring about an end to non-residential care fees, which was an official manifesto promise, I don’t hold out much hope of them being bold enough to tackle the issue.”

However, the Scottish Government has defended its position.

A spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has increased free personal and nursing care payments above inflation for the last two consecutive years to recognise the increasing cost of care.”