PAPER B2
Committee : SOCIAL
SERVICES, HOUSING AND BENEFITS SELECT COMMITTEE
Date : 6 NOVEMBER 2002
Title : FAIRER CHARGING FOR HOME CARE AND OTHER NON-RESIDENTIAL SOCIAL SERVICES
REPORT OF THE
STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES AND HOUSING
1.
SUMMARY/PURPOSE
This
paper sets out the background to this new legislation, and outlines the work
done so far to implement the statutory guidance set out within it. Statutory
guidance has determined two implementation dates for this legislation - 1
October 2002 and 1 April 2003. Although the Fairer Charging guidance has to be
implemented in full by April 2003, elected members are asked to note certain
changes to our current charging practice that have been required in order to
comply with the new requirements that are effective from 1 October 2002.
Specifically
these affect charges to the following services:
Home
Care
Day
Care
Community
Laundry
Minor
Adaptations
2.
BACKGROUND
2.1 Section
17 of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983
gives councils the discretionary power to recover charges as they consider
reasonable in respect of non- residential services. As a result of this discretionary power, each local authority
developed its own charging system with resulting inconsistencies especially in
the treatment of users’ income. This had also been highlighted in the Report of
the Royal Commission on Long Term Care (1999). The Government now considers the
scale of variation in the discretionary charging system unacceptable and has issued
guidance in the form of the Fairer Charging policy in November 2001 in order to
regularise the process. Final practice guidance against which this council’s
charging policy should be considered was received in August 2002.
2.2 Fairer
Charging guidance requires councils to consider four main areas within its
charging policies:
Initial
design of policy and consultation
Assessment
of disability related expenditure
Benefits
advice
Good
practice standards and performance monitoring
Various
options as to how this council will apply its new charging policy in relation
to the above from April 2003 will be placed before elected members for decision
both prior to and after the necessary consultation with users. In addition, a
charging policy for users who will receive Supporting People services from
April 2003 will also have to be considered in line with Fairer Charging
guidance.
As
noted above statutory guidance has legislated that there will be two
implementation dates:
1
October 2002
Councils
should ensure that users receiving basic Income Support, whose overall income
equals the defined “basic” levels plus a 25% buffer, are no longer to be
charged from this date at the latest.
Also
from this date, users receiving more than 10 hours home care each week, whose
disability related income e.g. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Attendance
Allowance (AA) and so on are included in the assessment of their charge, should
also have an individual assessment of their disability related expenditure. For
users receiving 10 hours or less this requirement is effective from 1 April
2003. It is currently our policy to include such income in a charging
assessment.
Earnings
should also be disregarded as part of income from no later than 1 October 2002.
1
April 2003
All
other parts of the guidance, in particular the need to maximise user’s incomes
with benefits advice and support, are to be effected from this date.
2.3 In
order to ensure that Social Services complies with these implementation dates,
a full review of users’ charges is being carried out. Approximately 1600
financial assessments are being undertaken using our current charging policy,
amended only by the statutory guidance set out in Fairer Charging. However,
this guidance raised issues with our current charging practice whereby elected
members are asked to note a number of changes as set out below. Users are being
notified of the outcome of this review and any changes to their assessed
charges will be effective from 1 October 2002. Users will continue to be
charged under the existing scale of charges where applicable, although it is
anticipated that the majority of home care service users in particular will be
assessed on lower charge bands from this date.
2.4 As
indicated above, there are a number of changes to the Directorate’s current
charging practice which members are asked to note:
a) Home
Care
Fairer
Charging requires that, as a minimum, users’ incomes should not be reduced by
charges below basic levels of income support plus a buffer of not less than
25%. This requirement necessitated a change to our current home care charge
band disposable income levels A – D (see Appendix A).
It is not being recommended at this stage that the home care charges applicable
to each charge band are reduced, merely the disposable income level to which
each user has been assessed.
b) Day
Care
Although,
as previously reported above, no charges for a service can be levied to users
on low incomes, Fairer Charging does allow a meal charge to be made to exempted
day care users who have a meal as part of their service as this substitutes for
everyday living expenses. The Strategic Director of Social Services and Housing
has considered the introduction of a meal charge to be consistent with the current
charging policy, and that a charge of £2 per meal is to be levied bringing this
in line with the charge that already is approved for users in mental health and
learning disability day centres. The remaining day care charges are considered
to include the meal charge.
c) Community
Laundry
There
are currently only 19 recipients of this service to whom an un-assessed flat
rate charge of £3.40 per week is made, generating an income of £2700 per annum.
Fairer Charging no longer permits a flat rate charge for this service and so
elected members are asked to note that this charge is to be abolished from 1
October 2002.
d) Minor
Adaptations
A
flat rate charge of £30 was being levied to all users who received a minor
adaptation to their property as a result of an assessment by an Occupational
Therapist, irrespective of their financial means. Fairer Charging does not
allow a flat rate charge to be levied and so elected members are asked to note
that this has also been abolished from 1 October 2002.
It
is worth noting that there were just over 450 such users in 01/02 giving an
income to the council of £13500 but that, even if an assessed charge was
introduced in line with Fairer Charging guidance, it is unlikely that this
income would be forthcoming as the inclusion of disability related expenditure
as part of the financial assessment will prohibit a charge being made to many
users. There would also be an extremely high administrative cost to
individually assessing more than 450 users.
2.5 The
data gathered from this full review will be used to formulate the options
available to the council when considering the new policy that has to be
implemented by 1 April 2003. The implications on staff resources and training
will also have to be taken into account when considering how to offer the
benefits advice and support to users that Fairer Charging also requires from
this date.
3.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
A
contingency of £200,000 has been included in the budget for 02/03 to offset an
anticipated loss of income. A further bid of £250,000 has been made for 03/04.
The full financial effects of Fairer Charging are not known at this stage and
will have to be established as follows:
02/03 Once
the outcome of the full financial assessment review of 1600 users are known.
03/04 Once
the new charging policy is approved (later this year).
4. RECOMMENDATION
Members
are asked to note this report.
4.
BACKGROUND PAPERS
Dept
of Health’s Local Authority Circular LAC(2001)32 dated 23 November 2001
Dept of Health’s Fairer
Charging Policies for Home Care and other non-residential Social Services –
Practice Guidance (August 2002)
Contact
Point : Dawn Cousins, 520600 Ext 2236
J
DOYLE
Acting
Strategic Director of Social Services and Housing