Issue - meetings

Joint report of the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health and the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

A petition has been submitted by Mr. Jonathan Cunningham, a Care Home Provider containing 25 signatures which states:

We the undersigned believe, “the proposed Sefton social care fees increase of 8.02% is inadequate to cover the true cost of care and request that Sefton Council reconsider and increase this fee.”

Prior to the Cabinet’s consideration of the report, Mr. Cunningham will be allowed to address the Cabinet on the content of the petition for a period of 5 minutes.

Mr. Jonathan Cunningham, a Care Home Provider, spoke in support of a petition containing 25 signatures which stated:

We the undersigned believe, “the proposed Sefton social care fees increase of 8.02% is inadequate to cover the true cost of care and request that Sefton Council reconsider and increase this fee.”

The Cabinet then considered the joint report of the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health and the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services requesting the Cabinet to determine the fees payable for Sefton Adult Social Care services for the financial period 2024/2025. The fees proposed included a range of care and support services to adults, including Direct Payment Recipients.

The following appendices were attached to the report:

·       Appendix A – 2024/25 Fee Increase consultation letters

·       Appendix B – Provider Responses to the consultations

·       Appendix C – Notes from the consultation events held with Providers

·       Appendix D – Care Home Initial Equality Impact Assessment

·       Appendix E – Domiciliary Care Initial Equality Impact Assessment

·       Appendix F – Supported Living Initial Equality Impact Assessment

·       Appendix G – Extra Care Housing Initial Equality Impact Assessment

·       Appendix H – Community Support Initial Equality Impact Assessment

·       Appendix I – Day Care Initial Equality Impact Assessment

Decisions Made: That

(1)      the petition be noted;

(2)      the contents of the report be noted and having given full consideration to the options outlined in the body of the report, which includes the associated Appendices, the responses to the consultation from a wide range of care and support Providers, and the Equality Impact Assessments undertaken as part of the work, the implementation of the following fee increases set out below from 1 April 2024 be authorised, which for some sectors are higher than those originally consulted upon, having taken into account a range of factors including the response from Providers, national context, risks raised in relation to additional costs and other information available at the time of the consultation and the availability of financial resources;

(3)      Residential & Nursing Care – the following rates be implemented:

(4)      it be noted that for Residential and Nursing care services, any existing placements which are costed based on an individual Service User assessment, are increased based on the same percentage uplifts detailed in the table above, unless where it is identified that the fee rate is sufficient for the placement. It also be noted that the above fee rates are not the sole funding route to agree a fee rate with care homes as there can be negotiated additional payments to reflect the complexity of care to support individuals when they are placed in a care home setting, which is directly negotiated as part of placement and Care Act assessment activities;

(5)      Domiciliary Care – the following rates be implemented for contracted / Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing System (PDPS)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 148