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RESOLVED:
 
Cabinet agreed the
following changes to the non-residential care charging policy in
Hackney to go forward for public consultation:
 
1. 
To remove the maximum charge cap (currently £250
pw)

 
2. 
To move from charging based on 92% of the cost of
service to 100%

 
3. 
To move from 75% of assessable income taken into
account to 100%

 
4. 
To consider whether it is worth reducing the amount of
disability benefits we automatically disregard from the financial
assessment of client contributions from 25% to 20%
 
Cabinet agreed to
publicly consult on a decision to move LBH’s Minimum Income
Guarantee calculation in line with DHSC minimum rates.
 
Cabinet approved one
new charge, a flat rate arrangement fee of £162.65 for
self funders who request that LBH set
up or make changes to a package of care for them on their behalf,
for public consultation.
 
REASONS FOR DECISION
 
It is not financially viable for LBH to
continue to offer its existing discretionary enhancements to the
nationally mandated Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) and
discretionary disregards to the financial assessments (FA).
 
LBH is an outlier in that it has a
particularly generous financial assessment calculation,
but  given
budgetary pressures, it is advised that Cabinet review the charging
policies in the context of rising demand, complexity and cost in
adult social care.
 
The Care Act 2014 allows for local authorities
to apply an ‘administration’ or
‘arrangement’ fee to cover the cost of arranging care
and support for individuals with eligible needs and assets above
the upper capital limit (also known as ‘self funders’) who has asked the local
authority to arrange their care and support on their behalf. Many
local authorities have implemented a fee.
 
DETAILS OF ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND
REJECTED
 
To do nothing and not review the Care Charging
Policy would mean LBH would fall further out of line with the
standard national practice on care charging, and with rising costs,
would find its budget gap growing over time, which is not a viable
option. By reviewing Hackney care charging policies and moving in
line with common practice in England, all chargeable residents will
pay towards their cost of care, in line with the more disposable
income a resident has. The work required to run the data collection
and financial modelling for the Care Charging change proposals
outlined in this paper was considerable, because of the
considerable length of time since the previous review of the
policy. It is therefore recommended that the policy is reviewed
annually in the future to avoid the need to make multiple
significant changes at once.
 
To do nothing would mean our Care Charging
Policy would not be made more equitable, as the current disregards
in the LBH Financial assessment benefit  those with
higher capital and income the most as they have more of their
finances disregarded (e.g. max charge cap at £250pw
significantly reduces the cost of care for those who can afford to
pay more). By reviewing Hackney care charging policies and moving
in line with common practice in England, all chargeable residents
will pay towards their cost of care, in line with the more
disposable income a resident has.
 
If LBH were not to implement the self funder arrangement fee, LBH would miss out on
our right as per the Care Act 2014 to recover some of the cost of
setting up care packages for self
funders and would further add to the current budget
deficit.