Agenda item

Doug Parkes, Business Finance and Commissioning Manager, presented the submitted report which set out the Directorate’s current charges for Home Care and Other Non-Residential Social Services benchmarked against local neighbours and members of a Chartered Institute of Professional Financial Accountants (CIPFA) benchmarking group.

The revised charging policy was introduced from April 2003 to ensure that the Council met its statutory requirements to implement fairer charging guidance.  It was informed by a detailed consultation exercise and a series of briefing sessions with Cabinet Members and Scrutiny.

Members ratified the Charging Policy objectives to underpin the Council’s values and priorities to promote independent living, social inclusion, accessible quality services, sustainability, anti-poverty and fairness and equity.

Prior to the introduction of the guidance, Home Care charges were based on flat rates where everyone was required to pay irrespective of their ability to pay.  Members wanted to minimise the impact on service users, and introduced the Financial Assessment Scheme of the Disposable Income Allowance.  The Disposable Income Allowance was also established as an income regulator, to be increased or decreased depending on budget setting targets.  Originally it was set at 80% but had been reduced on a phased basis to 20%.  Disposable income was the amount remaining after deducting a Service user’s weekly expenses/allowances from their income which people were assessed as being able to contribute towards the cost of their care.

The financial assessment applied to people with savings of less than £23,500.  People who had more than this amount have to pay £12.85 per hour for their care up to a maximum amount of £200 per week.

The report set out details of charges in Rotherham compared to similar councils and a comparison of the amount people paid per week for their care.  It showed that a high proportion of people paid less for their care in Rotherham, with 50% receiving a free service compared to 33% in similar councils.

It was noted that people with savings below £23,500 paid less in Rotherham than those living in similar councils, as Rotherham’s allowances were more generous.

However people with savings greater than £23,500 would pay more for Home Care than similar councils because Rotherham’s charge per hour was higher.   This affected around 250 people out of the 2200 who received a Home Care Service.

There was no difference between domiciliary care charges for internal and externally provided services as a standard maximum charge had been set which applied irrespective of who provided the Service.  The Financial Assessment Scheme was generic as it would be unfair to charge someone more because the only service available in their area was more expensive to provide.  It would also be complicated to administer as some people received a Service from different providers.  As contract prices varied between different providers, charges had been set based on the average cost to the Council.

A question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised:-

• Whether the figure of £23,500 was fixed or would it be reviewed on an annual basis?  It was confirmed that this figure was the statutory minimum agreed nationally, which was inflated each year in line with inflation.
• Were there any plans to further reduce the Disposable Income Allowance in line with neighbouring authorities and if so what would the saving be to the Home Care budget?  Confirmation was given that charging policies were currently being reviewed.
• Reference was made to the fact that Day Care Service users were only paying 5% of the actual charge for providing the Service.  A query was raised as to whether the high cost of Service provision was in part due to under utilisation of the Services as a result of increased use of direct payments and personalised budgets.  It was confirmed that the unit cost was based on the actual running costs for day care and members of the Panel were reminded that it was a decision of Members to subsidise services.

Resolved:- That the report be received and its content noted.