Agenda item

To receive a report for consideration and comment regarding the Care Act and the intention of the Cabinet Member to take decisions required in order to comply with new provisions therein.

(Item 5 – Report of Mr Gibbens, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health and Andrew Ireland, Corporate Director for Social Care Health and Wellbeing)

Cabinet received a report containing a further update on the implications of and necessary actions resulting from the Care Act 2014, in particular the provision of information on three of the key policy decisions which would be made by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health in readiness for implementation in April 2015:

      I.        To adopt the national minimum eligibility criteria as Kent’s offer from April 2015.

    II.        To put the current charging arrangements for residential care and non-residential services on a new statutory footing under the Care Act 2014.

   III.        To agree to the broad outlines of the Deferred Payments scheme from 1 April 2015 and to the recommendation that the Temporary Financial Assistance scheme ceases from 31 March 2015.

It was intended that following consideration and ‘in principle’ agreement by Cabinet all three decisions would be debated in full at the Adult Social Care and Public Health Cabinet Committee scheduled for 4 December 2014 before being the subject of formal decision by Mr Gibbens, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health.

Mr Gibbens, presented the report for consideration, in particular he referred to the following:

      I.        That the Care Act would have a major impact on social care in England and he supported its aims;

    II.        That the Act would be introduced in two phases, firstly from April 2015 and a further tranche in April 2016, the latter being largely based on the recommendations of the Dilnott Report;

   III.        That the changes to eligibility criteria, introduced by the Act, were likely to be the most important element of the current tranche of changes.  Currently, eligibility criteria were set by each local authority; Kent County Council maintaining care eligibility at the ‘moderate’ level the Act would introduce a new national minimum, and as it was considered to be broadly similar to that already in place in Kent, it was proposed that it be adopted by Kent County Council.  He stressed that all those currently receiving services would continue to do so.

Andrew Ireland, Corporate Director of Social Care, Health and Wellbeing, spoke to the item. He echoed the sentiments of the Cabinet Member and concurred that changes to the eligibility criteria were the most significant element of the current tranche of implementation.  He emphasised that extensive testing of the new national minimum criteria against real life cases had produced evidence that suggested a close proximity to the moderate criteria currently employed at Kent.

He also referred to the following:

       I.        That the Act would introduce a right of appeal against the eligibility decision of the council for applicants.

      II.        That the proposed decision on charging related to a power already in place and utilised by KCC, becoming a duty.

    III.        That the proposed decision on deferred payments would be a largely technical measure as KCC already provided a voluntary scheme, the decision reflected the statutory nature of such schemes within the Act. 

It was RESOLVED that the proposal by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health to take the decisions identified within the report, after taking into account the views expressed by Cabinet and any recommendations or comment of the Adult Social Care and Public Health Cabinet Committee on 4 December 2014 be supported.