The recommendations were amended and then agreed.

DECISION

1.            To agree a standard allowance of £15 per week for all utilities (e.g. heating, water and electricity) which will be disregarded from the income used for charging for community-based services.

2.            To agree to use a higher standard weekly minimum income guarantee (MIG) for adults under pension age of £151.45 when determining how much service users will be asked to contribute to their care costs for community-based services.

3.            To agree a cap on care charges of £250 a week to limit the maximum amount that could be charged to an individual user.    

4.            To agree that the local authority will not charge interest rates on deferred payments for residential and nursing care whilst the client remains in residential/nursing care.

5.            To agree that the local authority will charge administration fees (set out in Appendix IV) in relation to deferred payments for residential or nursing care that reflect the actual costs incurred by the local authority. 

6.            To agree that the local authority will disregard 10 per cent of any rental income when calculating how much a person with a Deferred Payments Agreement needs to pay towards the cost of residential or nursing care.

7.            To note that officers will provide the Mayor with regular monitoring information to enable issues to be highlighted as the implementation progresses.

Action by:

DIRECTOR, ADULTS’ SERVICES (D. RADLEY)

(Project Manager (H. Donnellon)

Councillor David Edgar, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report. He explained that the report set out detailed proposals to allow for charging for adult social care. In particular he highlighted the results of the public consultation exercise and how it had impacted on the final recommendations. It was important to note that people would only be asked to pay if they could afford it and that their home would not be at risk.

Mike Smith from REAL addressed the meeting. He stated that his organisation was against charging in principle but that if it had to be done he considered that more time should be taken to ensure the proposals were right so that they would raise the correct amount of money without causing undue hardship. This could include a pilot project.

 The report was then discussed by Members. It was noted that the financial modelling was considered sound and consistent with what other Councils had used but that the final figures for income would only become clear once all the personal assessments had been carried out. Concerns were also expressed that a pilot scheme could cause confusion with some residents under the new scheme and others not. It was also noted that the scheme set higher thresholds for charging than schemes run by other authorities.

The Mayor thanked everyone for their contributions and officers for their work on the report. He agreed the recommendations as set out subject to an additional recommendation requesting that officers provide him with regular updates to ensure that the charging regime was developing as expected so that remedial action could be taken quickly if needed.

RESOLVED

1.            To agree a standard allowance of £15 per week for all utilities (e.g. heating, water and electricity) which will be disregarded from the income used for charging for community-based services.

2.            To agree to use a higher standard weekly minimum income guarantee (MIG) for adults under pension age of £151.45 when determining how much service users will be asked to contribute to their care costs for community-based services.

3.            To agree a cap on care charges of £250 a week to limit the maximum amount that could be charged to an individual user.    

4.            To agree that the local authority will not charge interest rates on deferred payments for residential and nursing care whilst the client remains in residential/nursing care.

5.            To agree that the local authority will charge administration fees (set out in Appendix IV) in relation to deferred payments for residential or nursing care that reflect the actual costs incurred by the local authority. 

6.            To agree that the local authority will disregard 10 per cent of any rental income when calculating how much a person with a Deferred Payments Agreement needs to pay towards the cost of residential or nursing care.

7.            To note that officers will provide the Mayor with regular monitoring information to enable issues to be highlighted as the implementation progresses.