Issue - meetings

Further to Minutes 61 and 62 (10 November 2015), the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health reported on the outcome of the public consultation in respect of proposed revisions to the Council’s Care and Support Charging Policy and the introduction of a scheme to enable the Council to reclaim Disabled Facilities Grant funding in certain circumstances.

The Cabinet Member referred to the considerable consultation that had taken place and confirmed that the proposals had been generally well received.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Adopt the revised Care and Support Charging Policy attached at Appendix 1 to the report which would mean that with effect from April 2016:

(a)   The same amount of Disability Related Expenditure (DRE) disregard shall be applied to all service users when assessing the amount they contribute to their care.

(b)  The new DRE disregarded amounts of £5, £15 or £25 shall be phased in as disability benefit rates are uplifted.

(ii)  Agree to the principle of charging for care and support services provided to carers who meet the eligibility criteria for services in their own right but that no charges be introduced for the 2016/17 financial year; and

(iii)  Agree the introduction of a scheme, in accordance with the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, whereby some or all of a Disabled Facilities Grant may be recoverable via the placing of a local land charge where a person in receipt of a grant has a financial interest in the property, in line with the conditions set out in paragraphs 6.4 and 6.5 of the report and with effect from April 2016.