Cap on care costs: metering towards the cap

1. Cap on care costs: metering towards the cap Consultation workshop 2015

2. Overview Discussion

3. What counts towards the cap

4. What counts towards the cap: overview • It is only the cost of care to meet a person’s unmet eligible needs that counts towards the cap. • This is based on what the cost is, or would be, to the local authority of meeting those needs. • Other costs do not count: • Daily living costs in a care home (£230 per week) • Top-up fees • NHS-funded care • Only costs from April 2016 onwards count

5. What counts towards the cap:for people receiving local authority support? • The cost of care to meet the person’s eligible needs will be set out in their personal budget. • Personal budgets become a statutory requirement from April this year and regulations and guidance have already been published. • Introduction of the cap will not affect the operation of that guidance. • It is the full cost of care to meet the person’s eligible needs which counts, including both the local authority’s and the person’s contributions. • For the purposes of the cap it will be important to distinguish clearly the cost of meeting eligible needs from any other costs included in the personal budget.

6. What counts towards the cap:for people arranging and funding their own care? • The cost of care to meet the person’s eligible needs will be set out in their independent personal budget (IPB). • The cost must be based on what it would cost the person’s local authority to meet their eligible care and support needs. • Local authorities will need to have processes in place to determine what this cost would be.

7. Independent Personal Budgets

8. Independent Personal Budgets:What are the requirements? • S28 of the Care Act defines the IPB and sets out requirements relating to revision and review. • There are no regulation making powers under s28. • The only “must” is that the IPB specifies what the cost would be to the local authority of meeting the person’s eligible needs for care and support. • The draft guidance: • recognises that the process for setting an IPB should be proportionate; • sets out the general principles for calculating an IPB; and • is intended to be permissive. • Assessment must be the same for self-funders but is there flexibility around the next steps in the process?

9. Independent Personal Budgets:How should they be calculated? • You may choose to undertake care and support planning for self-funders. • You may choose to base IPBs on a framework of averages. If so: • it should be based on personal budgets given to people with similar levels of needs; • consideration should be given to when a more tailored approach may be required; and • the averages used will need to be kept up to date. • Or there may be alternative approaches. • Whichever approach is taken, it should not re-introduce the concept of the ‘usual rate’ and must be reflective of actual costs

10. Independent Personal Budgets:Consultation questions 2. Do you agree that independent personal budgets should generally be set according to an average of personal budgets allocated to people with similar levels of need? 3. Is the guidance sufficiently clear as to how independent personal budgets should be calculated?

11. Care Accounts

12. Care Accounts:What are the requirements? • Local authorities will need to keep a care account for everyone with eligible needs ordinarily resident in their area • It will need to capture: • The rate they are metering (from their PB/IPB) • How much they have accrued to date • Local authorities will need to: • Keep accounts maintained • Provide annual statements • Ensure people are notified they are about to reach the cap • Ensure a smooth transition to LA support • Want to be ambitious to ensure statements can be as useful as possible.

13. Care Accounts:Consultation questions 4. Does the draft guidance provide sufficient clarity about the operation of care accounts to ensure a basic level of consistency between local authorities? 5. Can more be done to ensure that the care account is a useful tool to support people in planning for care costs?

14. Cap on care costs Consultation website: www.careact2016.dh.gov.uk Email: careactconsultation@dh.gsi.gov.uk Consultation 2015