FEATURE


The Care Act: One Year On


Maggie Winchcombe, OBE, Director at Years Ahead takes a look at The Care Act one year on from its introduction and explores how it was affected by the implementation of increasing austerity measures.


The Care Act (2014) set the agenda for social care reforms to meet the growing needs of England’s ageing society, and was broadly welcomed as a long overdue boost for the sector. Unfortunately, implementation in April 2015 coincided with increasing austerity measures for local authorities.


So one year on from it becoming law, what progress has been made around the country and what are the implications for care providers?


The biggest reform the act was set to bring in– the cap on care costs - was postponed just three months after it came into effect; this is now due in 2020. The act also brought into force new responsibilities, including the implementation of the first national eligibility threshold for support; promoting well-being; developing preventative and personalised services and carers’ rights to assessment.


In addition, there were requirements to inform and advise the public on what services are available, to monitor and manage arrangements on care home top-up fees and to play an active role in developing the market.


State of Play Data from the Local Government Association’s annual stocktake indicates that although demand is rising, the vast majority of councils (87%) were confident in their ability to make the necessary changes in 2015 /2016. However, they were not so optimistic for the year ahead and well over half (64%) expressed


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concern about budgets and resources generally.


Research conducted by Independent Age looked at the provision of information and advice, older people’s and carers’ experience of assessments and care home top- up fees. Their findings indicate a patchy picture, with information and advice being of variable quality and evidence that Care Act guidance on assessments is not being observed. 43% of 122 responding authorities did not comply with one or more of the legal requirements around top-up fee arrangements.


A House of Lords report on implementation and impact on the residential care sector in December 2015, expressed concerns about budget limitations and the government’s inability to identify those councils that are struggling. It noted the need for greater oversight


Future Prospects This shaky start does not inspire confidence for the future, but it is still early days and in difficult times the sector always seem to rise to the challenge and creative initiatives do emerge. For instance, there is growing recognition that more needs to be done to promote public awareness and signpost people to care providers. For this to succeed there needs to be a buoyant market. The experience in the West Midlands shows it’s possible. A consortium of 14 authorities are working together with business and


“The Care Act (2014)


set the agenda for social care reforms to meet the growing needs of


England’s ageing society, and was welcomed as a boost for the sector.”


charities on a public awareness campaign targeted at ‘self-funders’. The AT Home campaign focuses on independent living but has the potential to become a trusted source of information on social care.


The thinking behind the campaign is to change public perceptions of what is available and how it can help. Such information is crucial if we are to change attitudes about how we manage our longer lives and plan for our care when we need it. The campaign brings all the relevant organisations together in a common cause. With shrinking budgets in mind this has to be a significant step in the right direction.


www.yearsahead.co.uk www.tomorrowscare.co.uk


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