Agenda item

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health and the Corporate Director for Social Care, Health and Wellbeing on a single, consolidated modern law, which marks the biggest change to care and support law in England since 1948.

Mr M Thomas-Sam, Strategic Business Adviser, Policy and Strategic Relationships, Ms C Grosskopf, Policy Manager, and Ms M Stirrup, Change Implementation Manager, were in attendance for this item.

1.            Ms Grosskopf presented a series of slides which set out key aspects of the new legislation and the effects of the changes upon delivery of, and charging for, social care services. Copies of the slides were tabled.  There would be two phases of change - in April 2015 and April 2016 – and the main elements of each phase were summarised in the slides. Some detail of changes coming in April 2015 was not yet available but would become clear later in May 2014. Not all changes would be new to Kent but would formalise some best practice which Kent already followed.  Mr Thomas-Sam and Mr Ireland responded to comments and questions from Members, as follows:-  

a)    the importance of a client having an initial assessment of their care needs and eligibility was emphasised, so that suitable care, if required, could be planned and funded, either by the client or by the County Council. This would help avoid a client entering care of their own volition as a self-funder, perhaps earlier than was necessary, and then finding that this compromised their eligibility for County Council support at a later date.  The County Council would not be responsible for refunding the costs of care already incurred if that care was purchased without the client first having had a care assessment;

b)    the new system would commence in April 2015, and clients entering care at that time would be assessed under the system described above.  The care package and funding arrangements for those already in care at that time would not change;

c)    there was no threshold, for example, of age or financial resources, to a client requesting a care assessment, as any client was entitled to ask for such an assessment. There would be a national system to resolve any dispute by a client wishing to challenge their assessment;

d)    the provisions of the new Care Act would be supported by government funding. Although the costs of this had not yet been fully quantified, the estimated cost in the first few years would be approximately £2.5 billion, nationally. Both the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) had expressed concern that, should government funding fall short, particularly with an ageing population, local authorities would have to make up the shortfall; and

e)    the costs to Kent were expected to be confirmed during the summer. Kent was known to spend more per head on adult care than many other local authorities, and had a large number of self-funders. Members expressed concern that Kent may not be able to retain its ‘moderate’ eligibility criteria, which it had protected for years, if it were forced to supplement government funding.

2.            The Cabinet Member, Mr Gibbens, thanked Members for their comments and said he shared the concerns expressed. He had always believed that it was important and correct for Kent to keep its eligibility criteria at ‘moderate’ and to support people to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible, giving them better quality of life and avoiding larger care costs later in their life.  He reminded Members that the Care Act represented the largest and most fundamental change to social care provision since 1948.  Today’s social care was delivered in a very different environment to that of 1948, with many more of the population living for much longer than, and thus developing care needs not experienced by, previous generations.

3.               RESOLVED that the main provisions of the Care Bill be noted and Members’ comments on it and the outline implementation plan be noted.