Issue - meetings

The Director of Commissioning for People and the Director of Operations for Adult Social Care introduced the report. The main points were as follows:

·       After consultation, and a working group, that took place in 2019 and early 2020, a revised policy was implemented in April 2021.

·       Clear principles of the policy were that it would be fair, consistent, and equitable. All contributions are based on an individual’s ability to pay.

·       Members requested that mitigation measures be put in place should there be any issues for individuals using the service. One mitigation was the notice period, along with the follow up communications at the beginning of March. Furthermore, support was offered to individuals who did not understand or had questions regarding the new policy.

·       Any individuals that faced exceptional circumstances would have their charges considered for waver by the corporate director.

·       The policy has been in place for 6 months and there have been no complaints or requests to wave charges.

·       There was also not a noticeable increase in calls to the service area, which suggested that people did not have a high number of queries or questions with the regime.

·       The Adult Social Care charging income for 2021-22 is still expected to be over £22 million.

The Committee asked several questions following the report. Answers were provided by the Director of Commissioning for People and the Director of Operations for Adult Social Care:

·       A member asked a question on service users’ ability to pay. The Committee heard that ability to pay is assessed on the individual’s income, not their capital elements.

·       A member asked a question on the feedback received during Covid and queried whether the lockdowns had meant that fewer people were using/signing up to the service. The Committee heard that there are standard periods of review, normally within 6 weeks, as well as statutory reviews every year. Issues of hardship or circumstance changes are picked up when necessary to prevent people from struggling with their care provision. Furthermore, there had not been a reduction in the care received, despite a small downturn during the first lockdown, however as society had opened again the level of care has increased. This was not surprising or unpredicted.

• Members heard that day centres had re-opened with social distancing in place. Some people are staying at home and being supported in the community rather than coming into the day centres. Respite for carers however was of high importance due to this. A review was about to start about day opportunities in order to plan for the future and how people can best be supported.
• A question was asked on the amount spent on care to which the Committee heard that the gross spend on care was around £120million a year. The income gained through the Charging Policy was £22 million a year.

RESOLVED that the Committee noted the report.

Voting: Unanimous