Decision details

Further to Minute No. 61 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member - Health and Social Care held on 16 February 2011, the Cabinet considered the report of the Adult Social Care Director on the review of the Council's charging policy for non-residential social care services which had been undertaken in order to make substantial efficiencies as part of the Transformation Programme.

The report also provided a summary of the responses to the proposals following a consultation exercise held with service users who receive home care services and/or attend day centres .

This was a Key Decision and was included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

RESOLVED    That

(1)       in principle, all service users who have in excess of £23,250 (current threshold) in capital or those who refuse to divulge their financial details be charged a maximum amount, to be determined,towards the actual cost of their day centre place and other care services provided by the Council;

(2)       the percentage of disposable income charged against as part of the financial assessment be increased from 65% to an amount to be determined;

(3)       in respect of (1) and (2) above, a further report be submitted to a Special Meeting of the Cabinet Member - Health and Social Care and the Cabinet at its meeting to be held on 3 March 2011 to:

(i)         agree the maximum amount to be charged for day centre placements and other care services provided by the Council;

(ii)        agree the increase in the percentage of disposable income from 65%; and

(iii)       consider the financial implications of (i) and (ii) above with regard to the budget target saving of £650,000;

(4)       couples will only be offered two calculations either as a single person based on their own income, or as a couple based on their combined income;

(5)       the £5.00 per week transitional protection be removed;

(6)       service users be charged for their reserved day centre and reserved transport place whether or not they use either facility;

(7)       the highest rate of Attendance Allowance and the care component of Disability Living Allowance be taken into account as income for those service users who receive night-time services;

(8)       the amendments to the appeals process in relation to the revised charging policy be approved; and

(9)       it be noted that the proposal was a Key Decision but, unfortunately, had not been included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.  Consequently, the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Health and Social Care had been consulted under Rule 15 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution, to the decision being made by the Cabinet Member/Cabinet as a matter of urgency on the basis that it was impracticable to defer the decision until the commencement of the next Forward Plan because the savings targets contained within the report are a component in achieving the setting of the Council's balanced budget for 2011/12.  The item was not included on the Forward Plan because of the timescales dictated by the Transformation Agenda to achieve significant budget savings across the Council.