Adult Care Charging Policy Review

Overview

The Council fund on-going adult social care services for approximately 3,000 residents, this includes the funding of services like residential care and home care.

When residents require adult social care, as well as assessing their care needs, we are legally obligated to assess their financial circumstances to determine how much they will pay towards their care (there are some exceptions such as Careline charges, which has a flat rate charge for everyone). This is known as means testing. Some people will not pay anything, with the council picking up the full cost of the care package (approximately 40% of our service users); some people pay a contribution (approx. 35%) and some people pay for all of their care (approx. 15%). The service user’s contribution will pay for the cost of care in the first instance with the Council topping up the difference between the service user’s contribution and the cost of the approved care package.

The Adult Social Care Charging Policy sets out what and how service users pay towards their care. The policy aims to provide a consistent and fair framework for charging people who receive care and support, following an assessment of their individual needs and financial circumstances. Whilst this is based on national legislation, this policy has not been fundamentally reviewed for 7 years. The policy is due a review and update.

The current policy and the proposed changes to the policy can be found in the related documents below. The rates in this proposed policy will be subject to an annual increase in April 24.

In person

If you would like to speak to someone face to face about the consultation, we will be running some drop-in sessions across the borough. The dates and times are listed below, you don’t need an appointment just call on the day between the times shown.

Please give us your views on the proposed changes by clicking the link to the survey below.