Additional Report - Charges for Non-Residential Services, Community Alarms, Meals Provision, Independent Sector Care Homes & Respite Care
North Lanarkshire Council · 16 May 2023
Back to Adult Care and Social Work Committee — 16 May 2023 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Adult Care & Social Work Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref JC/PMcA/ES Date 16/05/23 Charges for Non-Residential Services, Community Alarms, Meals Provision, Independent Sector Care Homes & Respite Care From Ross McGuffie, Chief Officer, Health and Social Care NL Email Ross.McGuffie@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk Telephone 01698 858143 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to advise Committee of the charging levels to be applied for non-residential services, community alarms, meals provision, independent sector care homes and respite care in 2023/24. The Council’s charging policy has been updated for 2023/24 to reflect the new rates. It should be noted that the charges for 2023/24 would normally increase by the CPI% rate set in January 2023, however the rates will not be increased for 2023/24 and therefore will remain at 2021/22 rates. Recommendations It is recommended that the Adult Care & Committee notes: a. the threshold figure for payment of home support charges set at £252 for single people and £384 for couples; b. the hourly rate for home support of £18.20; c. the daily rate for attending an Integrated Day Service of £10.00; d. the weekly rate for a Community Alarm of £3.40; e. the charge for meals provided in day services of £5.15; f. implementation of the interim increase to Independent Sector Care Home fees as negotiated via COSLA, Scottish Care and the Scottish Government; g. an uplift in charges for residential respite in line with increases in pensions and allowances; and h. free personal care and nursing care will rise from £212.85 to £233.10 and £95.80 to £104.90 The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve economic opportunities and outcomes Ambition statement (12) Ensure our residents are able to achieve, maintain, and recover their independence through appropriate supports at home and in their communities
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1. Background 1.1 Local Authorities are empowered through the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and the Housing Scotland Act, 2001 to apply charges for services. In setting its charging levels, North Lanarkshire Council has followed the national guidance issued by COSLA in respect of charging. 1.2 The COSLA guidance operates on the principle that people on the lowest levels of income do not pay for the service and that those who do pay contribute according to their means. This objective is achieved by setting a charge threshold which is up-rated annually and applying a taper contribution of income above the threshold level (see 2.1). 1.3 In accordance with COSLA guidance, North Lanarkshire Council maximises the Income of all service users who are liable to make a contribution towards the cost of the service. In 2022/23, the Financial Inclusion Team generated benefit income in the region of £422k for people receiving a non-residential service. 1.4 The charges for 2023/24 would normally increase by the CPI% rate set in January 2023, however the rates will not be increased for 2023/24 and like last financial year will remain at 2021/22 rates. 2. Report Non-Residential Services 2.1 In line with the COSLA recommendations, the charge threshold for 2023/2024 will be £252 per week for a single person and £384 for couples (2022/23 £229 and £349). Persons with income less than those figures will not be required to pay for home support services. 2.2 When calculating maximum service users charge, the Council deducts from their assessable income any costs which the service user is liable for in respect of housing costs, i.e. rent, mortgage, council tax and water charges. A taper contribution of 50% of excess income is then applied. For example, a single person with income of £260 per week after deductions would have their charge assessed as follows: Income £260.00 Threshold £252.00 Disposable Income £8,00 Client charge = £8 x 50% = £4.00 2.3 The hourly rate for Home Support Services will remain at 2021/22 rate of £18.20. 2.4 The charge applied for attending an Integrated Day Service will be £10.00 per day. 2.5 Charges for meals provided in day services will also remain at 2021/22 rate of £5.15. 2.6 The Community Alarm charge will remain at 2021/22 rate of £3.40 per week. Independent Sector Care Home Fees 2.7 Care home fees are negotiated annually via COSLA, Scottish Care and the Government. At present there is no resolution to the negotiations on an increase to the National Care Home Contract (NCHC) for 2023/24. The Scottish Government and
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Local Government have a joint commitment to ensure Adult Social Care staff providing direct care are paid at least the Real Living Wage. There are also changes to the National Minimum Wage which required implementation by Law. Therefore, an interim increase to the NCHC fee rates has been applied to ensure that the care home sector receive the funds required to ensure direct care staff and domestics receive their increase in pay. This is an interim measure until agreement is reached on a 2023/24 settlement. 2.8 The interim weekly rates for 2023/24 are £855.78 (Nursing Care) and £739.43 (Residential Care) both effective from 10 April 2023. 2.9 All parties remain committed to reaching formal agreement on the increase to the NCHC for 2023/24 and seek to achieve this as quickly as possible. Respite 2.10 The weekly charge for residential respite (£110.85 in 2022/23) will rise in line with increases in pensions and allowances to £123.55 for 2023/24. Free Personal Care 2.11 The rates to be applied to free personal care and nursing care for people in residential homes for 2023/24 will rise in accordance with the Scottish Government directive from £212.85 to £233.10 and £95.80 to £104.90. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Through the income maximisation and charging policy, service users have their income fully maximised through the social security benefit system. 3.2 This policy ensures that disability benefits etc are claimed and the Council in turn receive revenue from charges for services. 4. Supporting documentation N/A Ross McGuffie Chief Officer, Health and Social Care NL
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Rates have been maintained at 2021/22 levels, this ensures consistency with all other NLC fees and charges. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.