petition details

Chief Executive write a letter of apology

We the undersigned petition the council to respond to the STAND UP FOR ROTHERHAM petition that already has 50 signatures and call on the Chief Executive of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) to write a letter of apology to every individual who did not have an annual assessment completed, as best practice required, under the Care Act 2014 between 1 August 2017 and 31 July 2018 and to state publicly how many individuals this affects.

Part of the answer to a question tabled at the Rotherham Council meeting on 25 June 2018 stated:

“It is correct that the Care Act [2014] requires the local authority to ensure that the support package an individual receives is adequate and proportional. Best practice requires the local authority to review an individual annually. However, some individuals due to their complex and changing needs may be reviewed several times a year.”

On reaching 20 signatures An officer will investigate the matter further

This petition ran from 06/08/2018 to 19/08/2019 and has now finished.

7 people signed this petition.

Council response

Dear Mr. Harron

Your petition called on the Chief Executive to apologise to every individual who has not had an annual assessment. The authority faces the same challenges and pressures as other social care authorities in respect of undertaking reviews and re-assessments and we have acknowledged previously that our timeliness of assessments has not been at a standard we would wish. However, we are currently working with people who have care and support needs and their carers and families to ensure all assessments going forward will be undertaken with the person at the heart of the assessment.

The number of cases that the petition refers to were provided to you in an email from me dated 28 August 2018 and are separately recorded in the minutes of the Council meeting held on 5 September 2018, where the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health responded to a question from a member of the public. You can find those minutes on the Council’s website through this link – https://moderngov.rotherham.gov.uk/documents/s117510/Council%20Meeting%205th%20September%202018.pdf

Thank you for submitting your petition to the Council.

Yours sincerely,

Sharon Kemp
Chief Executive
Rotherham MBC