Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Adults and Health. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health.]

The report provides the feedback, outcome and recommendation following the statutory public consultation on the proposed introduction of Charging for Managed Accounts in relation to an annual management fee for Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Appointee Accounts and an annual fee for Self Funders as part of 2018/19 MTFS proposals.

 The Cabinet Member for Adults and Health introduced the report which proposed an introduction of an annual management fee of £650 for the administration of accounts of clients who are self-funders. The report further sought approval to the introduction of an annual management fee of £650 for the administration of accounts of persons to whom the Council act as Department of Works and Pensions Appointee.

Following consultation in June 2019 , the findings were presented .The Cabinet noted that the set of proposals standardises the Council’s approach to the application of management fees where the Council acts on behalf of users to arrange care or to manage their affairs.

The Cabinet Member outlined that this service was currently provided for 180 individuals. The proposal was to charge for these services in line with fees already charged for Deputyships under the court of protection.

In response to a question from Cllr Emery, the Council had not assumed a particular drop off percentage of clients no longer seeking this service. The service had completed considerable work on the financial assessment processes and would be clear with clients on the charging, early on in their care assessment, and support understanding the benefits of this care and highlight the implications for the client in not accessing this service. The Council would be monitoring the impact of the changes on a case by case basis to understand individuals that were having difficulties in paying the fee or where there was impact on care provision to step in where required.

RESOLVED

1.    To consider the findings of the consultation, the equalities impact assessment of the proposal on protected groups and the actions proposed to mitigate the impact.

2.    To approve the introduction of an annual management fee of £650 for the administration of accounts of clients who are self-funders.

3.    To approve the introduction of an annual management fee of £650 for the administration of accounts of persons to whom the Council act as Department of Works and Pensions Appointee. Where the person net savings are below £16,000, the annual fee will not exceed 3.5% of the net savings.

Reasons for decision

As part of the MTFS [Medium Term Financial Strategy] for 2019/20 the Council agreed to take forward the proposals made to introduce a fee for the administration of accounts, which would generate income of approximately £120K p.a. in relation to self-funders and the management of Department for Work and Pension (DWP) Appointeeship clients.

The number of self-funders who approach the Council for support in arranging their care has been increasing and, it is anticipated, will increase further over the coming years. There is currently no arrangement fee in place to cover the Council’s administrative costs which therefore are met by the Council and to ensure there is a sustainable arrangement in place to deliver this service for the future. It is notable that self-funders currently benefit from the preferential rates for care which the Council is able to negotiate on their behalf.

As the number of clients on behalf of whom the Council has DWP Appointeeship also increases, the Council notes that the administrative costs of managing appointee client accounts are growing and that there is no income stream to off-set these costs currently.

The Council already charges administration fees to clients (as set out by the Court) when appointed by the Court of Protection as Deputees to manage their Property & Affairs. The level and type of service provided to Appointeeship clients is similar to that provided to Deputyship clients. The proposal to introduce fees for Appointeeship clients that are comparable for Deputyship client fees would address the current disparity in approach.

Alternative options considered

The alternative not to charge was considered but would leave the service unsustainable given the increasing number of clients requiring the service and the commitment to the continued delivery of high-quality service provision that supports the needs of clients.

The option to charge at different rates from those rates applied to Deputyship clients was also considered but it was felt to be more equitable to apply comparable rates of administration for all clients and which would also enable recovery of the costs of the service supplied.