Agenda item

The Panel considered a report from the Assistant Director Adult Social Care, Commissioning and Partnerships, Alan Sinclair, regarding the progress of the Care Bill 2013-14 and the Better Care Fund.

Members were informed that the Care Bill brought together a number of existing laws into a single legal framework to reform care and support for adults, support for carers and adult safeguarding.  It was anticipated that the Bill would become law in 2014 and would come into effect from April 2015.  The Assistant Director advised the Panel of the key aspects of the Bill which included national eligibility criteria, clarity over service charges, a deferred payment scheme to ensure people did not have to sell their home and a cap on care costs of £72,000.  Members raised a number of issues about the impact of the Bill, both for local residents and the Council, and asked about funding and eligibility criteria.  In response, the Assistant Director clarified a number of points in relation to the implications of the Bill and reported that further guidance on issues such as assessment and eligibility was awaited.

The funding position was currently uncertain, particularly the revenue implications, although some capital had been made available to upgrade IT systems for the capped cost system.  The Assistant Director reported that the funding of the Care Bill would also form part of the responsibilities of the Better Care Fund, the purpose of which was to create a pooled fund for health and adult social care.  The Government had announced that £3.8bn would be available nationally of which Slough would have a minimum allocation of £8.7m from 2015/16.  The Council was working closely with the Slough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to develop the Better Care Fund delivery plan and it was anticipated that this would be signed off by the Slough Wellbeing Board in January and by the Cabinet at a later stage.  Members discussed a number of issues including what could be learned from international experience on the transition from acute services to the community; the measures to reduce emergency admissions to A&E; and the timescale for developing the delivery plan.

The Chair thanked officers for their attendance.

Resolved –

(a)  That the report and the appendices setting out the implications for the Council of the Care Bill, the actions taken so far, and the lead officers that will be responsible for implementing the legislation be noted.

(b)  That the background to the Better Care Fund and current and future planned activity be noted.

(c)  That the sign off timetable for the Better Care Fund Plan be noted.