Agenda item

An explanation of the impact of the Care Act was given by report author Chris Curran. It was noted that the report was being presented for the attention of the Board as it was important for the Board to have a full awareness of the impact of the Act, and the changes that it would bring to Adult Social Care. The report focused on the anticipated costs to LBB in delivering compliance to the Act.

It was noted that the non-financial provisions of the Act would come into force on 1 April 2015, whilst the financial reforms would largely take effect from 1 April 2016. 

The Board were advised that Council Executive had previously authorised £266k to fund pre 1 April 2015 implementation costs, and that the Council’s ECHS (Education, Care and Health Services) Department had already set up a Care Act Program to make the required preparations.

The Board were informed that the Bromley financial model had identified cost pressures from four main areas:

• Cared for Assessments
• Carer Assessments
• Carer Support/Services
• The Care Cap

It was explained to the Board that the “Care Cap” would be set at £72.000.00 commencing from 1 April 2016. This meant that anyone paying for eligible care costs would not pay any more towards their eligible care costs if they had already paid £72.000.00. There will be a number of important exceptions and rules, including that all ‘care accounts’ recording accrued expenditure will start from £0 in April 2016. 

Mr Curran felt that there would be four key results deriving from the four areas listed above, these were:

• an additional assessment workforce would be required
• an improved service offer would be required for carers
• there would be a loss of income as a result of changes to the charging rules
• there would also be a number of smaller scale system changes required

A Member referred to section 4.9.5 of the report that alluded to a consultation paper due for publication in the autumn; this was in respect to the allocation of funding for 2016/17. The Member asked if there was any current knowledge of the anticipated contents; the answer to this was that there was not. Mr Curran felt that due to the complexities involved it may be possible that timescales may slip backwards.

A Member expressed the fear that once a person in care had moved passed the care cap; the council may begin to experience financial burdens that would be difficult to bear, particularly for individuals who had chosen more expensive providers of care than the council’s usual rate. Mr Curran explained that there would be a typical rate that a council would pay; these rates would be rational and common, except in exceptional circumstances. A member suggested that there may be problems later on down the line with people in expensive accommodation that had exceeded their cap. Mr Curran pointed out that it was anticipated that the council may have the power to move such persons into more cost effective accommodation at that point, if such accommodation was available and suitable.

The Director for Education, Health and Care Services pointed out that there would be many people in care that would not exceed the care cap; this was because individuals were fitter and living longer out of care. It was also the case that it was very difficult for central government to correctly assess the correct figure for the care cap. More information was expected to come to light after the autumn statement. 

A Member queried how long a person would have to reside in Bromley to benefit from the care account/cap. Mr Curran explained that the care accounts were portable, meaning that any client moving between local authority areas would retain their progress towards the cap.

A Member asked what sort of information would be available to the public concerning these things as the issues seemed complicated. Mr Curran explained that there would be a national campaign, but that local councils would also have to engage in information dissemination, and council staff would need to be conversant. 

Mr Curran explained the current financial model that had been used. It was noted that based on current estimates, there would be a deficit of funding in 2015/16 of approximately £192.000.00. It was possible that in around four to five years’ time, the increased gross costs to LBB could be in the region of £12M. Mr Curran apprized the Board that any estimates of funding had to be treated with extreme caution until final allocations had been confirmed in December 2015; the report highlighted broad costings and funding which had to be treated with extreme caution at this stage

RESOLVED that the Care Act Impact Report and the initial financial model be noted.