The Portfolio Holder for Adult Services and Commissioning (South) considered a report by the Director of Adult Services in relation to the Care Act which had received Royal Assent on 14th May 2014, and would be implemented over the next two years.  The majority of the changes contained within the Act were set to take place in April 2015, with the reform of funding (including the cap on care costs) to take effect from April 2016.

There were a number of discretionary areas in the Act which required a local decision. These included aspects relating to Fees, Charging and the Universal Deferred Payments Scheme as follows:

•              The ability to charge a care arrangement fee to Self-Funders;

•              The requirement to have a single charging framework and the potential to modify elements of existing charging policy;

•              The ability to charge Carers for support provided in line with bringing them onto an equal footing with service users; and

•              The ability to charge interest and a fee for the arrangement of a Deferred Payment (on a cost recovery basis).

The report brought forward options relating to the above and sought approval to consult on those options. The outcome of the consultation would be reported back to full Council in May 2015 where final approval would be sought.

That, subject to paragraph 4.2.2 of the report being amended to read that services are charged for from the week that care starts and to the consultation process running for 6 weeks from 24^th February to 7^th April 2015, the recommendations in the report by the Director of Adult Services be approved, namely:

·         to carry out a consultation on the proposals detailed in the report;

·         for the consultation process to be for 6 weeks;

·         that the results of the consultation be evaluated and taken into account when finalising any proposals;

·         that an initial EINA has been carried out and this will be updated following the consultation to inform the council decision making; and

·         that final Council approval to be sought on any changes at the full council meeting in May 2015.