Agenda item

7.1

The Committee received a report of the Interim Director of Care and Support which highlighted the reasons for the introduction of the Care Act 2014 (the Act), identified the actions which had taken place to support its implementation in Sheffield and described the implications of the Act for the people of Sheffield.  The report was introduced by Luke Morton, Programme Manager, Communities.

7.2

Members made various comments and asked a number of questions, to which responses were provided as follows:-

·                There had been no major issues in implementation, with actions being undertaken to build on established best practice and ensure that the Council’s practices aligned with the legislation.  Consideration was being given to improving information and advice as this was not always as coherent or comprehensive as it might be.

·                There would be financial implications associated with implementation, but a Department of Health impact assessment had indicated that there would be no net impact on local authorities.

·                There would be no overall review of charging policy, but some parts of the Act involved discretionary decisions on issues such as carers’ personal budgets.

·                There would be a cap on care costs for those whose capital and income were above the charging thresholds and there were approximately 4,500 of those self-funders.  The cap on care costs was £72,000. 

·                If the Local Authority had a responsibility, then the charging requirements would apply.  There was a duty to meet care and support needs and a duty in emergency situations.  The Act provided the force of law to support this so that if a local authority was not responding in an appropriate way, this could be taken to a Judicial Review. 

·                The Act had received cross-party support whilst going through Parliament, so its repeal by any change of Government was not expected.  However, some of the limits may change.

·                The capital allowance was to be increased to £118,000, which meant that people with assets, including houses, below that value would be eligible for support from the Council.  There was also a deferred payment scheme whereby loans could be provided to pay for residential care, with a charge being put on the property.

·                Some modelling had been undertaken to assess the impact of the Act on budgeting. 

·                There were specific rules on how property value was counted and the Financial Assessment Service were aware of the issue of people re-mortgaging their properties to avoid the capital limits.

7.3

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       thanks Luke Morton for this contribution to the meeting;

(b)       notes the contents of the report and the responses to questions;

(c)        welcomes the principles behind the Care Act 2014; and

(d)       requests that:-

(i)        a further report on the implementation of the Care Act 2014 be presented to a future meeting of the Committee after January 2015; and

(ii)      a copy of the Council’s Charging Policy be circulated to all Council Members, together with an explanation of why this was being done.