The Cabinet Member for Children and Adult Services reported on the potential implications for the Borough and its residents of the findings of the Dilnot Commission on Funding of Care and Support and the proposed response to the Government’s consultation exercise ‘Caring for our Future’.
The Cabinet Member advised that there had been cross-party recognition of the significant pressures on funding for adult social care as population ages and the demand for services increased and, as a consequence, an independent commission, chaired by Mr Andrew Dilnot, was appointed by the Government in July 2010 to undertake a comprehensive review. In the same period the Government had also asked the Law Commission to review social care legislation.
· The Cabinet Member outlined the key findings of the Dilnot Commission which represented a radical review of the way that people would contribute towards the cost of their care, namely:
· Individual’s lifetime contributions to their social care costs should be capped at a total proposed contribution of £35,000;
· The means-tested threshold above which people were liable for their full care costs should be increased from £23,250 to £100,000;
· All those who become adults with a pre-existing care and support need should be eligible for free state support immediately, with a sliding scale of charging for people aged 40 plus;
· There should be national eligibility criteria for access to adult social care services.
The Cabinet Member advised that while the Dilnot recommendations would reduce the injustice caused by the current funding arrangements which penalised individuals who had saved and invested for their future, the Government had failed to address the already apparent gap between the available funding for adult social care and the current need which would only increase under the proposals. In addition, there would be significant resource implications for local authorities in meeting their new responsibilities which the Government would equally need to address if these recommendations were implemented.
In September the Government had launched a further consultation exercise ‘Caring for our Future’ which would inform its forthcoming White Paper on the reform of adult social care and funding.
Cabinet agreed:-
(i) To note the findings of the Dilnot Commission and the implications for Barking and Dagenham as outlined in the report; and
(ii) The Council’s response to the Department of Health’s engagement paper ‘Caring for our Future’ as set out at Appendix 4 to the report.