Agenda item

Report ECHS19005

The Committee considered a report providing an update on the current level of Education, Care and Health Services Department debt and the action being taken to reduce this.

The level of Education, Care and Health Services debt as at 30^th September 2018 was £12.3M of which £5.1M was less than a year old.  For the 12 months prior to 30^th September 2018, the Local Authority had raised 5,432 invoices to the value of £26,339,514 on behalf of Education Care and Health Services, and as at 30^th September 2018, £1,787,662, which represented 6.8% of the invoices raised remained outstanding of which 30% were less than 30 days old.  The value of unpaid invoices over one year as at 30^th September 2018 was £1,390,087, which was an increase of £122,318 on the debt position as at 30^th September 2017.  It was recommended that £265k of pre-2015 debts mainly due to deceased clients with insufficient funds in their estate be written off.  There was an increased focus on early intervention and a number of measures were being taken to support vulnerable clients and their families to reduce the build-up of debt and speed up the recovery process for social debt.  This included a six month pilot scheme in which a Care Management Assistant provided support to clients in receipt of services who had been assessed as lacking the mental capacity to manage their finances which had enabled 146 client cases to be reviewed and for £43K of £118k debt to be successfully recovered from 19 clients.  The cases of 127 clients had also been progressed with various solutions applied which were likely to impact the final debt levels for 2018/19.  Funding had now been agreed for a permanent Care Management Assistant role and a Recovery Visiting Officer within the Exchequer Contract with the expectation that these roles would be self-financing as a result of increased income collection.  Debts related to temporary accommodation had also been included in the report and showed an increase in the volume of outstanding debts of £903K in September 2017. 

In considering the report, a Member was concerned to note increasing debt related to temporary accommodation.  The Assistant Director: Exchequer Services confirmed that the increase in debt reflected the increase in the number of households being placed in temporary accommodation.  Work was undertaken to ensure that households residing in temporary accommodation applied for Housing Benefit and other benefits from the earliest possible date and that residents were referred to the Debt Advice Team within the Housing Service where it was identified they required additional support.  Households were not offered permanent accommodation by the Local Authority until outstanding temporary accommodation debt had been resolved.

A Co-opted Member highlighted the difficulties faced by people who had been discharged from in-patient hospital or mental health services as their benefits were often stopped for the duration of their admission.  It was key to provide these vulnerable residents with housing and debt support, and make them aware of any financial obligations they may have relating to ongoing health care provision.  The Assistant Director: Exchequer Services advised that Visiting Officers who undertook assessments as part of their role in supporting vulnerable clients also identified the benefits a client may be entitled to and assisted them to apply.  Clients were made aware of any financial obligations relating to ongoing health care provision and this information was also provided to them via a personal budget letter.  In response to a question from a Member, the Interim Chief Executive confirmed that all care packages were reviewed by social workers on an annual basis to ensure that clients were receiving appropriate support for their individual needs.  A further update on the impact of the introduction of dedicated Care Manager Assistant and Recovery Visiting Officer posts on adult social care debt would be presented to the meeting of Adult Care and Health PDS Committee in June 2019.

RESOLVED that the level of Education, Care and Health Services debt over a year old and the action being taken to reduce this sum be noted.