Minutes:
The Board considered a report of the
Strategic Director, Communities, which informed Members on the changes involved
with the new Care Act and on local progress.
The Board was advised that the changes coming into effect in April 2015
which impact directly on the Council include:
A duty to provide
prevention, information and advice services;
·
A
national minimum threshold for eligibility for both service users and carers;
·
The
entitlement for carers to assessment, support services and review equal to that
of the service user;
·
The
right for people who pay for their own care to receive advice and support
planning; and
·
A
universal system for deferred payments for residential care.
The Board was
further advised that the changes coming into effect from April 2016 which
impact directly on the Council include:-
A cap on the
costs that people have to pay to meet their eligible needs;-
·
A ‘care
account’ giving people with eligible social care needs an annual statement of
their progress towards reaching the cap, whether their care is organised by the
local authority or not; and
·
Extending
the financial support provided by the local authority by raising the means test
threshold for people with eligible needs.
It was reported that to oversee the implementation of the Care Act in
Halton, an overarching Care Act Strategic Group chaired by Operational Director
Prevention and Assessment had been established. The strategic group in turn
oversees six sub-groups each working to their own implementation plan that included
working towards completion of reviewing relevant documents, policies,
considering training and workforce development, charging and cost implications
as well as understanding and identifying potential risks. A brief summary of
each of the subgroups was included in this report.
Furthermore, it was reported that to support the implementation a grant
of £125,000 had been provided and had been used in the following three ways:-
·
A
full-time policy officer had been recruited;
·
A
full-time post in finance to support all financial implementation of the
changes in the Care Act; and
·
£25K to
support joint working with Liverpool City region.
The Board were reminded of the Members seminar on the Care Act that
would be taking place on Thursday 15 January 2015 at 5.30 pm. It was reported that all Members of the
Council would receive a copy of the slides.
It was also reported that a follow up event was also being considered.
It was reported that an update report would be presented to the next meeting
of the Board.
The Board noted that two regional groups had been established and noted
the updates from the sub-groups contained within the report.
Clarity was sought on whether additional
staff had been recruited to deal with the additional workload. In response, it was reported that a Policy
Officer had been recruited and some existing Policy Officers had been allocated
additional work. The Board noted that
the full time posts in finance to support all financial implementation of the
changes in the Care Act were temporary secondment posts for a period of 12
months. A report outlining the resource
requirements would be presented to the Executive Board. However, it was highlighted that funding
received would not be sufficient to address the changes, and the Council would
do whatever it could to communicate and support people within the budget.
RESOLVED: That the report and comments
raised be noted.
Supporting documents: