Agenda item

To receive a presentation on the Adult Social Care Priorities - Adult Social Care Reforms.

Matt Pope updated the Committee on one of the main Adult Social Care priorities, the forthcoming Adult Social Care Reforms.

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·       The proposals in the ‘People at the heart of care’ White Paper represented an enormous change for Adult Social Care.  Matt Pope suggested that the Committee may wish to focus on the matter as it developed.

·       Adult Social Care had been chronically underfunded and needed reform. 

·       Matt Pope believed in order to reform Adult Social Care, funding, how it was funded and how it was paid for, should be considered.  Other areas of Adult Social Care also needed improvement and reform including quality and workforce, control of care and tailored support.

·       Matt Pope felt that there should be a National Social Care Minimum Wage which was on par with the NHS.

·       The amount and variety of support available needed to be addressed.

·       Members were reminded that the Government had put a health and social care levy on National Insurance which raised approximately £12billion a year of which £1.8 billion in the first 3 years was planned to go to Social Care.

·       The Charging reform would have a massive impact on the Borough giving a huge funding gap.  From October 2023 more private funders would be able to come to the Council, either for the Council to set up care accounts to monitor against a capped amount or, be able to access local authority rates where they had been unable to do so previously.

·       Wokingham had a high level of private funders.  At present approximately 1,800 people received formal social care support.  This could increase by in the region of a further 3,000 people, which would require additional staff, services, and IT systems, to support.  Without central government funding, the delivery of services to an additional 3,000 residents would be extremely challenging.

·       Members were advised that it was proposed that the proposals come into effect at the same time, which was very difficult from an operational stand point.  Matt Pope highlighted the timetable for the reforms.

·       The principles and the content of the White Paper had been well received by the social care world, but the funding and detail needed to be correct.

·       Key themes of the White Paper were highlighted.

·       A Member questioned how the shortfall would be manifested – would the Borough have insufficient revenue to pay, and would the Council receive insufficient funding from the Government to address the shortfall?  Matt Pope advised that over 3 years the funding gap would be significant, possibly £20million.

·       In response to a question regarding IT systems, Matt Pope advised that guidance stated that it if an individual wanted to start metering their spend against their care cap, the local authority had to undertake an assessment and decide what the needs for the individual were and an appropriate amount.  The local authority had to set up a care account on an IT system as the individual paid for their care, which monitored the spend.  This would require a new IT system.

·       The Committee asked how likely it was that the Council would be able to fill the funding gap and the implications if it could not.  Matt Pope commented this was still under review.  Government was being lobbied.

·       A Member asked how the Council could think outside of the box to lessen the impact and referred in particular to the recruitment and retention of social workers.  She questioned whether more non-social workers could be used to undertake assessments. Matt Pope indicated that the Association of Adult Social Services was asking for a national approach to training for Occupational Therapists and Social Workers prior to the bringing in of the reforms.  Locally, the Council looked to grow its own staff and also had apprenticeship schemes in place.

·       Industry studies showed that Councils in the South East would be disproportionately impacted by the proposed reforms due to the number of private providers and high costs of care, and the differential between local authority and private rates.

RESOLVED:  That the update on the Adult Social Care Reforms be noted and Matt Pope thanked for his presentation.