Consultation on Surrey County Council's charging policy for adult care and support services

Overview

The Care Act 2014 introduces new rules for charging for care and support from April 2015.  Under the county council’s current charging policy, many people living at home receive their support free of charge. However, some people have to pay towards services such as home care and day care and most people have to pay towards residential and nursing care. The money the council receives from charging enables us to provide more care services than we could otherwise afford.

We are thinking about making changes to the current policy to raise more income as well as bringing in the necessary legal changes through the Care Act 2014.

Who will be affected by the changes?

People who currently receive their services free of charge will not  be affected by these proposals. Those people who have been assessed to pay a contribution towards the care and support they receive in the community or at home may be asked to pay an additional amount. People in residential and nursing care will continue to be charged using the new rules.

What are the changes?

There are three main areas that we are consulting on:

1) Charging for residential and nursing care provision

Under the existing rules, the council must charge people for receiving residential or nursing care. Most people have to pay towards the cost of care and support in a care home. From 1 April 2015, the council may make a charge for these services but does not have to do so unless the resident has capital above the upper capital limit of £23,250.

The income that the council receives from charging people for these services is an essential contribution to the budget for Adult Social Care services.

What are we proposing?

The council is proposing that it will continue to charge people for residential and nursing care services in the same way as at present, using the new power to charge.

Who will the proposals affect?

People currently in residential or nursing care will not notice any change to services or charges as a result of this change in the law.

2) Power to make a charge for putting arrangements in place

From 1 April 2015, when a person has capital above the upper capital limit, (currently £23,250) and the council has a duty to make arrangements for their care and support needs to be met, the council may charge an arrangement fee to cover the cost of managing the contract with the provider and any administration costs.

What are we proposing?

The council is proposing to charge an arrangement fee for providing this service to those people who have capital above the upper limit and their needs are to be met in a residential or nursing care home.

Who will be affected?

Any person who has more than the upper capital limit and moves into residential or nursing care from 1 April 2015 and the council has a duty to make arrangements for their care and support will be required to pay an arrangement fee.

3) Percentage of available income taken in charges

Most people receiving non-residential care and support services such as home care, day care or a direct payment should have a financial assessment to see if they need to make a contribution towards their care and support costs. This assessment takes into account income, allowances, housing costs and disability related expenditure when determining the net disposable income left over for charging. The Care Act 2014 reinforces current practice and states that a local authority can take 100% of left over income into account for charging. Many of Surrey’s neighbouring authorities take between 90% and 100% of income into account. At present Surrey takes 80% into account when calculating how much a person can contribute towards the support they receive at home.

What are we proposing?

The council is proposing to increase the amount of available income taken into account from 80% to 90%.

Who will be affected?

Any person who is currently assessed to contribute towards their care and support costs will have an increase in their contribution from April 2015.

If you would like this information in easy read, large print, Braille, on tape or in another language, or would like to speak to someone about the questionnaire, please contact us on:

• Telephone: 0300 200 1005
• Minicom: 0208 541 9698
• SMS: 07527 18286.

For further information on our current charging policy and how we charge for community care services, please visit our website www.surreycc.gov.uk/adultsocialcare