Issue details

This issue will be dealt with by two decisions:

Decision 14/00135 - Charging for Adult Care and Support: That Kent County Council exercise its power under Section 14 of The Care Act 2014 to charge, from 1 April 2015, for the same adult social care and support services that it currently charges for, as at 31 March 2014.

Financial Implications: In relation to this decision specifically, there are not expected to be significant financial implications for 2015-16 as there will be no change to the groups of people and services that are charged/charged for.  Further, the details of how to charge individuals (as laid down in The Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014) do not depart significantly from the current system until April 2016.  From April 2016 there will be financial implications from charging due to the raising of the capital threshold for people in residential care whose former home is taken into account in the financial assessment.  In addition the wider Care Act changes will have significant financial implications.

Legal Implications:  The decision is believed to be necessary in order for the Council to be able to continue to charge in the same way as it currently does for residential and non-residential care and support.  Currently local authorities have a duty to charge for residential care (under section 22 (1) of the National Assistance Act 1948) and a power to charge for non-residential services (under section 17 of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983, which Kent does exercise for most non-residential services).  These powers and duties will cease from April 2015 and are being replaced by a power to charge under section 14 of the Care Act 2014.  

Equality Implications: It was considered whether an Equalities Impact Assessment should be carried out but it was decided this was not necessary as there will be no substantive changes to which people are charged for care and support and for which services.

Decision14/00136 - Deferred Payments and Temporary Financial Assistance: That Kent County Council introduces the new Deferred Payments scheme from 1 April 2015 (with both mandatory and discretionary elements).  It is further recommended that the current Temporary Financial Assistance scheme should cease after 31 March 2015 as the new Deferred Payments scheme will cover the same groups of individuals.

Financial Implications: It is expected that there will be more people taking up the new Universal Deferred Payment scheme than the current Deferred Payment and TFA schemes combined.  Currently there are about 50-100 new DP or TFA cases each year.  It is estimated that from the introduction of the new scheme there will be 300-400 new applications each year.  The costs to administer these will be largely covered by the admin charges which are permitted and the interest which will be added to the cost of the loan (the maximum interest being laid down by Government).  There are implications in terms of cash flow but the money will generally be repaid as it secured on the individual’s property.  Secured debt will however increase as a result of the changes.  This will be largely unavoidable as most of the new scheme is mandatory.

Legal Implications: The rules governing the new Deferred Payments Scheme from April 2015 will allow wider discretion in the ability of councils to pay for an individual’s residential care who would otherwise be expected to pay the full cost but whose capital is not accessible (usually because it is tied up in a property).  This will cover those situations currently covered by the discretionary Temporary Financial Assistance scheme (for example, when the property is jointly-owned or there is already a mortgage on it).  It is not, therefore, believed to be necessary to maintain the Temporary Financial Assistance scheme. 

Equality Implications: It was considered whether an Equalities Impact Assessment should be carried out but it was decided this was not necessary as the new Deferred Payments scheme will encompass the types of people currently covered by the current Deferred Payments scheme and Temporary Financial Assistance.