Issue - meetings

Ms Goldsmith (Finance Business Partner - Social Care, Health & Wellbeing) and Mr Underwood (Project Manager) were in attendance for this item

(1)        Officers introduced the report which set out information relating to Kent County Council’s Adult Social Care and Health Non-Residential Charging Policy which had been under review and referred to the several areas where Kent County Council was out of alignment when compared with other local authority’s charging policies and Department of Health guidance which had been identified.Following the review, a decision was taken to proceed to formal consultation on amending one specific area of the charging policy – the Minimum Income Guarantee – to bring into alignment with the Department of Health’s Statutory guidance. The report sets out the findings of the consultation.

Officers then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Ms Goldsmith referred to the proposed increase of £10 for the first year and confirmed that the amount would be reviewed after the first year. Mr Underwood added that individuals who were impacted by £20 or more would be contacted individually to minimise the impact of the increase. Ms Goldsmith added that individuals were written to prior to April and given the opportunity to advise Kent County Council if there were changes to their financial circumstances.

b)    Ms Goldsmith confirmed that when financial assessments were undertaken, they assessed individual’s income levels and their capital based on government guidelines. She added that individuals who had no form of income or were below the minimum income guarantee would not be charged for services.

c)    Ms Tidmarsh said that officers undertaking financial assessments had discretion as to whether individuals did or did not pay the charge, based on the individual circumstance.

d)    Ms Goldsmith confirmed that the non-residential charging policy to review Kent’s charging policy against Department of Health guidelines was completely separate from the annual inflationary uplift.

e)    Mr Underwood stated that during consultation, Adult Social Care and Health engaged with Kent’s Commissioning Advisory Board (CAB) and provided an update in relation to the review. He added that engagement with CAB would continue. He referred to the 6% of client that had been identified to be impacted by more than £20 per week and confirmed that they would be engaged with to ensure that their benefits were correct and their income was maximised to help to reduce the increased costs.

f)     Ms Goldsmith referred to the reduction of the standard minimum income guarantee (MIG) rate from £91.40 to £72.40 per week for individuals aged 18 to 24 and confirmed that the amount was set by government legislation. She added that Kent County Council provided individuals with an additional amount of £17 per week, which was called a Disability-Related Expenditure Allowance (DREA).

g)    Ms Tidmarsh said that Kent were funding voluntary sector organisations to provide support and advice to individuals to maximise their benefits.

h)    Ms Bell (Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health) referred to the MIG, designed to cover  ...  view the full minutes text for item 204