Agenda item

The Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding submits a report updating the Commission on proposed changes to the charging policy.

The Deputy City Mayor for Social Care, Health and Community Safety introduced the item and highlighted that the proposal is being considered as part of reviewing all spend and income due to the local authority’s difficult financial situation to protect the broader adult social care service and Council generally. It was noted that there is no accurate identified potential income/savings if the proposal were to proceed as everyone would need to be reassessed and discretion applied.

The Deputy City Mayor expressed thanks to the Director for Adult Social Care and Safeguarding and her team for their approach in consulting with individuals as part of the process.

The Director for Adult Social Care & Safeguarding presented the report, and it was noted that:

·       Members were informed in October 2023 of the consultation on the proposed changes to the charging policy. The consultation concluded on 31 December 2023 and analysis of meetings, surveys and representations is underway.

·       The Care Act 2014 altered financial charging and made it permissible for local authorities to take into account the full value of disability benefits – this has not been implemented locally despite a previous consultation. The current consultation proposes to implement changes to charges.

·       The consultation also included the proposal to introduce an admin charge where the local authority acts as an appointee for an individual and they have savings above £1,000. The proposed fee has been benchmarked against fees charged by other local authorities and is intended to cover back-office costs.

·       The report contains simplified examples of how the proposed changes may operate but recognised that it is a complex task, and everyone’s situation will be different and require assessment.

The Commission were assured that a further report will be provided once the consultation responses have been analysed alongside an equalities impact assessment.

In response to questions and comments from Members, it was noted that:

·       The additional £16m to fund care packages through the private sector is associated to external pressures such as increased growth in demand and complex needs, inflation and ensuring payment of the national living wage which is not directly comparable with managing the budget.

·       The proposed fee of between £14-£16 for acting as an appointee equates to the internal admin costs to process and benchmarking against other authorities. It is unknown whether other local authorities will introduce or increase their fees.

·       The potential income/savings if the proposal were to proceed is uncertain as consideration of individual cases and discretion would be applied rather than a blanket charge – this would comply with the Norfolk Judgment.

·       The Authority has only been able to estimate individuals in receipt of the higher rate based on DWP eligibility model as it does not currently charge to have accurate data. Everyone will also need to be assessed as individual circumstances will differ to how the benefits may be utilised to support care needs.

·       The cost to implement the change if the decision was taken to adopt the proposal would be included in the first year’s savings as a one-off with ongoing financial assessment when reviewing additional income. 

The Chair noted she and Cllr Kaur-Saini were Members when the proposal was previously consulted on and welcomed further consideration by the Commission of the current consultation prior to decision.  

AGREED:

·       The Commission noted the report.

·       The Commission requested officers to consider Members comments.

·      The Commission requested the item remain on the work programme.