Decision Maker: Health Policy and Performance Board
Decision status: For Determination
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
The Board considered a report of
the Strategic Director, Communities which gave the Members a summary of the
White Paper ‘Caring for our Future: Reforming Care and Support’ which had been
published on 11 July 2012. The report
detailed the impact this would have on Local Authorities (LAs) and partner
agencies.
The Board was advised of action
from the White Paper in relation to the following categories:-
·
Maintaining Independence;
·
A Better Understanding;
·
Quality;
·
Social Care Workforce; and
·
Control.
Appendix 1 to the report gave
further details of the actions outlined within the White Paper along with
details of the expectations/impact on Local Authorities.
The Board was also advised that
people had the opportunity to comment on the Bill by 19 October 2012 either on
line via the DH website http://careandsupportbill.dh.gov.uk/home/
or in writing to the Draft Care and Support Bill Team at the DH. Halton would be preparing a response to the
consultation and this would be presented to the Executive Board on 18 October
2012.
It was reported that Members had
received a briefing on the Bill and the comments had been collated and would
form part of the response. A draft
summary of the Bill had also been circulated to Members of the Board and
further comments were sought. It was
also reported that amendments to the response would be made after the meeting
and a draft report would be circulated to Members of the Board on Wednesday 12
September 2012 for comments. It was
highlighted that it was a very tight timescale as the report was to be
considered by the Executive Board on 18 October 2012. A further report would also be presented to
the Health PPB at its meeting on 8 January 2013.
The following comments arose from
the discussion:-
· Page 100 – Paragraph 5.1 – bullet points – clarity was sought on the £100m and whether this was additional money or whether this would result in a loss of funding elsewhere. Members raised concern that if it was not additional funding, but from reductions elsewhere, with the current budgetary cuts from the Government, this would have a severe impact on front line services. In response, it was reported that it was unclear whether it was additional funding and how it would be distributed etc. In addition, it was reported that the response could ask for further clarity on this matter.
·
Page 100 – choice about whether to have
financial protection through voluntary opt-in or opt-out schemes to give
protection in return for specified payments – It was suggested that finance and
insurance groups would need to be considered as people would not be able to
afford insurance;
·
It was noted that the Bill made assumptions on
existing community facilities and with the current cuts, it was likely that
many of these would cease to exist. In
addition, some community support was specific to a particular area and could
not be rolled out across the Borough; and
·
It was suggested that the level of financial
implications on Page 2 of the draft paper be emphasised more.
RESOLVED: That the contents of the report and comments raised be noted.
Report author: Kim Butler
Publication date: 18/10/2012
Date of decision: 11/09/2012
Decided at meeting: 11/09/2012 - Health Policy and Performance Board
Accompanying Documents: