New report reveals challenges of adult social care charging reforms

The County Councils Network (CCN) have launched a new report which independently analyses the government’s adult social care charging reforms.

The reforms were introduced in the government’s Build Back Better and People at the Heart of Care white papers in 2021. They include a more generous means-test, a cap on care costs of £86,000, a move towards a ‘fair’ cost of care, and the ability for people who arrange and fund their own care to ask their local authority to do it on their behalf.

The primary aim of the charging reforms is to redistribute the financial responsibility for paying for care between the individual and the local authority.

The reforms have been welcomed, but there is still uncertainty about how they will operate in practise.

A survey of local authorities revealed 82% of respondents support the cap on care costs, 89% the extended means test, 87% the introduction of a fair cost of care, and 69% arranging care for self-funders.

However, the CCN estimates that the costs of reforms in the nine years from when they are introduced to 2032 could be a minimum of £10bn higher than currently estimated and could create a further workforce crisis in social care, with over 5,000 extra staff projected to be required to carry out extra care and financial assessments for those seeking to benefit from the reforms.

Councils highlighted a range of implementation challenges, with 97% of respondents ‘very concerned’ about a lack of appropriate funding and a further 3% ‘quite concerned’.

Other concerns included:

• The workforce challenge – 88% very concerned about recruiting additional staff for care assessments and a further 10% quite concerned
• Additional demand – 80% very concerned about the demand from self-funders for arranging care packaged, with a further 18% quite concerned
• The implementation timescales – 77% very concerned about having enough time to properly implement the reforms and a further 20% quite concerned
• The IT and technology requirements – 59% very concerned and a further 41% concerned
• A shortage of care placements – 60% very concerned and a further 38% quite concerned about this

As a result of these challenges, only 35% of respondents said they were ‘quite well prepared’ for the reforms, with 63% stating they were ‘not well prepared’.

There is also support for a phased implementation beyond October 2023. 69% of respondents supported delaying the implementation of the cap on care costs; 67% supported a delay to the introduction of the extended means test and fair cost of care; while 90% of respondents supported a delay to arranging care for self-funders under section 18(3) of the Care Act.

The full report can be downloaded here.

Photo by Dominik Lange