Agenda item

The Panel considered a report of the Head of Democratic Services detailing the Council’s progress in responding to requirements of the Care Act 2014 to ensure that it meets statutory deadlines for implementation.

Linda Sellars, Chief Social Worker, Sarah Gibbons, Senior Social Work Practitioner, and Laura Catchpole, Policy Officer advised the Panel of  progress to date and, during discussion, the following points were raised;

(a)  Part 2 of the Care Act (related to funding reform and the care cap) is due to be implemented by April 2016.  Currently, no guidance has been received, but a draft is expected in February 2015.  Final guidance is due in October 2015.  This will include consultation over fairer charging;

(b)  A proposal to jointly manage citizens’ joint budgets has been put forward.  Some citizens are funded by health and social care, and the need for clarification on direct payments under the Care Act could arise, now that the personal health budget pilot has come to an end.  Ultimately, whatever is best for the citizen will prevail;

(c)  Contributors assured the Panel that Nottingham City Council will be compliant with Part 1 of the Care Act by April 1^st 2015.  There is further work to be carried out, but compliance is of primary importance

(d)  The Care Act involves some significant cultural changes; there will be a cultural programme next year focusing on embedding the Care Act;

(e)  The fact that Nottingham City Council adopted the personalisation agenda at a very early stage contributes to helping with the required cultural change.  There is less of a cultural shift needed at Nottingham City Council than there has been at other Local Authorities because of existing experience of personalisation;

(g)  Colleagues are engaged with national discussions on the cap on care costs and associated risks, for example the potential impact on private providers who may want to withdraw services if they can’t set charges for self-funders.  The need to prepare for the risk of market failures is being addressed;

(h)  All of the work carried out so far has been done by using existing resources at Nottingham City Council.  Some additional money has been allocated for carers and self-funders, and there has been some expense to cover the cost of the new duty to cover people in prisons, and the cost of training;

(i)  Carers can also be employers, and can potentially be funded from two sources (health and social care).  Currently, these individuals are assessed by Nottingham City Council for social care funding, and are supported by account providers.  In the future, there is the potential to have an internal team that can provide this service for both health and social care funding;

(j)  Service users will not see a huge amount of difference when Part 1 of the Care Act is implemented in April 2015.  The main differences will be for carers, as their level of eligibility may change, and carers may see more support from April 2016, when Part 2 is implemented; 

(k)  Nottingham City Council has always been very proactive over both early intervention and reablement;

RESOLVED to thank colleagues from Nottingham City Council for the information and request that they provide an update to the Panel on implementation of Part 1 of the Care Act and progress with preparing to implement Part 2 of the Care Act in the summer 2015.