Conflict of Interest in relation to Client Finance/Appointeeship and the possibility that social care charges are unlawful

The request was successful.

Dear Luton Borough Council,

To whom it may concern

1. How many individuals is the local authority acting as an appointee for, please?

2. How many of these individuals (in area or out of area) pays adult social care charges to the council for non-residential services?

3. Which department is responsible for administering appointeeship?

4. Which department is responsible for assessing social care charges?

5. How many officers in either department carry out an overlapping role with regard to appointeeship and care charges?

6. How many times has the appointeeship team responded to a consultation on behalf of individuals or any group of benefits claimants regarding a change in the council’s charging policy, since 2015?

7. How many appeals about care charges has the appointeeship team submitted to the financial assessment team since 2015?

8. How many complaints has the appointeeship team submitted regarding care charges since 2015?

9. How many times has the appointeeship team sought or referred individuals they act for, to independent advice (whether third sector, legal aid or privately funded) about care charges, since 2015?

10. How many times has the appointeeship team questioned the accuracy, fairness or legal validity of individuals’ care charges or the council’s charging policy, since 2015?

11. Does the council treat appointeeship as a Care Act service? If so, does it charge for that as part of the Care Act charging system?

12. How much does it charge, if it makes a charge, per month or per week or per year, please?

13. If appointeeship is not provided for through the Care Act, does the council allow for a DRE deduction from Disability Benefits income, for the charge it makes for appointeeship (assuming a person is otherwise chargeable)?

14. If the council does not operate appointeeships for adult social care clients, does the council permit a full DRE deduction from Disability Benefits income, for any charge levied by any other corporate or private appointee (assuming a person is otherwise chargeable)?

15. In respect of all council clients who are currently in receipt of adult social care services, regarded as liable to pay a charge for their adult social care services, for whom the appointee role is currently undertaken - how is the relevant department holding the appointeeship responsibility proposing to manage the conflict of interest presented by the judgment in the Norfolk CC v SH case in December 2020, given that the decision means that other similar policies are presumptively unlawful? Please answer with a sentence or a paragraph; it is suggested that it is not a proper response to say that no decisions have been made, as yet, because the problem already exists.

Regards
Belinda Schwehr, CEO, CASCAIDr. www.CASCAIDr.org.uk

LBC Feedback, Luton Borough Council

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Website: www.luton.gov.uk

LBC Feedback, Luton Borough Council

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re: Your Freedom of Information Request - Acknowledgement

 

Thank you for your request for information. We are treating this as a
request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

The legislation allows us 20 working days to respond to your request. If
we require any clarification from you in relation to your request, we will
contact you further and the 20 working day period will start once we have
that information.

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in acknowledging this FOI
request. Please note we are currently experiencing a higher than usual
volume of emails to this mailbox. The team are working through all
enquiries received but there is likely to be a delay in response times.

 

Should you have any queries or concerns about how your request is being
handled, please do not hesitate to contact us further, quoting the above
reference, by emailing us at [1][Luton Borough Council request email]

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Khurram Nawaz

Complaints and Information Governance

01582 546398

[2][Luton Borough Council request email]

 

 

 

From: CASCAIDr <[FOI #738838 email]>
Sent: 21 March 2021 16:59
To: LBC Feedback <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Conflict of Interest in relation
to Client Finance/Appointeeship and the possibility that social care
charges are unlawful

 

 

CAUTION: This email came from an external source - only open links and
attachments you are expecting Dear Luton Borough Council,To whom it may
concern1. How many individuals is the local authority acting as an
appointee for, please?2. How many of these individuals (in area or out of
area) pays adult social care charges to the council for non-residential
services?3. Which department is responsible for administering
appointeeship?4. Which department is responsible for assessing social care
charges?5. How many officers in either department carry out an overlapping
role with regard to appointeeship and care charges? 6. How many times has
the appointeeship team responded to a consultation on behalf of
individuals or any group of benefits claimants regarding a change in the
council’s charging policy, since 2015?7. How many appeals about care
charges has the appointeeship team submitted to the financial assessment
team since 2015?8. How many complaints has the appointeeship team
submitted regarding care charges since 2015?9. How many times has the
appointeeship team sought or referred individuals they act for, to
independent advice (whether third sector, legal aid or privately funded)
about care charges, since 2015? 10. How many times has the appointeeship
team questioned the accuracy, fairness or legal validity of individuals’
care charges or the council’s charging policy, since 2015?11. Does the
council treat appointeeship as a Care Act service? If so, does it charge
for that as part of the Care Act charging system? 12. How much does it
charge, if it makes a charge, per month or per week or per year,
please?13. If appointeeship is not provided for through the Care Act, does
the council allow for a DRE deduction from Disability Benefits income, for
the charge it makes for appointeeship (assuming a person is otherwise
chargeable)?14. If the council does not operate appointeeships for adult
social care clients, does the council permit a full DRE deduction from
Disability Benefits income, for any charge levied by any other corporate
or private appointee (assuming a person is otherwise chargeable)?15. In
respect of all council clients who are currently in receipt of adult
social care services, regarded as liable to pay a charge for their adult
social care services, for whom the appointee role is currently undertaken
- how is the relevant department holding the appointeeship responsibility
proposing to manage the conflict of interest presented by the judgment in
the Norfolk CC v SH case in December 2020, given that the decision means
that other similar policies are presumptively unlawful?  Please answer
with a sentence or a paragraph; it is suggested that it is not a proper
response to say that no decisions have been made, as yet, because the
problem already exists. RegardsBelinda Schwehr, CEO, CASCAIDr. 
[3]www.CASCAIDr.org.uk-------------------------------------------------------------------Please
use this email address for all replies to this
request:[FOI #738838 email]Is
[4][Luton Borough Council request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Luton Borough Council? If so, please contact us using this
form:https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...
This message and any reply that you make will be published on the
internet. Our privacy and copyright
policies:https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi... more detailed
guidance on safely disclosing information, read the latest advice from the
ICO:https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be
delayed.If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI
page.

show quoted sections

please/
4. mailto:[Luton Borough Council request email]
6. http://www.luton.gov.uk/
7. http://www.luton.gov.uk/emailupdates

Nawaz, Khurram, Luton Borough Council

Dear Sir/Madam

 

The service responsible for responding to your request, have emailed me
regarding a delay in a response to your FOI. They are currently going
through an office move, so there will be a further delay in a response to
your request.

 

Please accept our sincere apologies.

 

 

Kindest Regards

Khurram Nawaz

Complaints and Information Compliance Officer

Complaints & Information Governance

Business Intelligence Unit

T: 01582 547373

 

 

 

From: LBC Feedback
Sent: 15 April 2021 11:10
To: 'CASCAIDr' <[FOI #738838 email]>
Subject: FOI-C25546 DUE DATE-21.04.2021 KN

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re: Your Freedom of Information Request - Acknowledgement

 

Thank you for your request for information. We are treating this as a
request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

The legislation allows us 20 working days to respond to your request. If
we require any clarification from you in relation to your request, we will
contact you further and the 20 working day period will start once we have
that information.

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in acknowledging this FOI
request. Please note we are currently experiencing a higher than usual
volume of emails to this mailbox. The team are working through all
enquiries received but there is likely to be a delay in response times.

 

Should you have any queries or concerns about how your request is being
handled, please do not hesitate to contact us further, quoting the above
reference, by emailing us at [1][Luton Borough Council request email]

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Khurram Nawaz

Complaints and Information Governance

01582 546398

[2][Luton Borough Council request email]

 

 

 

From: CASCAIDr <[3][FOI #738838 email]>
Sent: 21 March 2021 16:59
To: LBC Feedback <[4][email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Conflict of Interest in relation
to Client Finance/Appointeeship and the possibility that social care
charges are unlawful

 

 

CAUTION: This email came from an external source - only open links and
attachments you are expecting Dear Luton Borough Council,To whom it may
concern1. How many individuals is the local authority acting as an
appointee for, please?2. How many of these individuals (in area or out of
area) pays adult social care charges to the council for non-residential
services?3. Which department is responsible for administering
appointeeship?4. Which department is responsible for assessing social care
charges?5. How many officers in either department carry out an overlapping
role with regard to appointeeship and care charges? 6. How many times has
the appointeeship team responded to a consultation on behalf of
individuals or any group of benefits claimants regarding a change in the
council’s charging policy, since 2015?7. How many appeals about care
charges has the appointeeship team submitted to the financial assessment
team since 2015?8. How many complaints has the appointeeship team
submitted regarding care charges since 2015?9. How many times has the
appointeeship team sought or referred individuals they act for, to
independent advice (whether third sector, legal aid or privately funded)
about care charges, since 2015? 10. How many times has the appointeeship
team questioned the accuracy, fairness or legal validity of individuals’
care charges or the council’s charging policy, since 2015?11. Does the
council treat appointeeship as a Care Act service? If so, does it charge
for that as part of the Care Act charging system? 12. How much does it
charge, if it makes a charge, per month or per week or per year,
please?13. If appointeeship is not provided for through the Care Act, does
the council allow for a DRE deduction from Disability Benefits income, for
the charge it makes for appointeeship (assuming a person is otherwise
chargeable)?14. If the council does not operate appointeeships for adult
social care clients, does the council permit a full DRE deduction from
Disability Benefits income, for any charge levied by any other corporate
or private appointee (assuming a person is otherwise chargeable)?15. In
respect of all council clients who are currently in receipt of adult
social care services, regarded as liable to pay a charge for their adult
social care services, for whom the appointee role is currently undertaken
- how is the relevant department holding the appointeeship responsibility
proposing to manage the conflict of interest presented by the judgment in
the Norfolk CC v SH case in December 2020, given that the decision means
that other similar policies are presumptively unlawful? Please answer with
a sentence or a paragraph; it is suggested that it is not a proper
response to say that no decisions have been made, as yet, because the
problem already exists. RegardsBelinda Schwehr, CEO, CASCAIDr.
[5]www.CASCAIDr.org.uk-------------------------------------------------------------------Please
use this email address for all replies to this
request:[FOI #738838 email]Is
[6][Luton Borough Council request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Luton Borough Council? If so, please contact us using this
form:https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...
This message and any reply that you make will be published on the
internet. Our privacy and copyright
policies:https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi... more detailed
guidance on safely disclosing information, read the latest advice from the
ICO:https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be
delayed.If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI
page.

show quoted sections

please/
6. mailto:[Luton Borough Council request email]
8. http://www.luton.gov.uk/
9. http://www.luton.gov.uk/emailupdates

Nawaz, Khurram, Luton Borough Council

Our Reference: C25547

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re: Your Freedom of Information Request

 

I write in response to in response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Your Request related to Appointeeship.

 

 

We have considered your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA).

 

Response

I can confirm we do hold information within scope of your request.

 

1. How many individuals is the local authority acting as an appointee for,
please? Luton Borough Council manage 209 live appointeeships

2. How many of these individuals (in area or out of area) pays adult
social care charges to the council for non-residential services? 63 of
these individuals pay for a non-residential service.

3. Which department is responsible for administering appointeeship? The
Financial Assessment Team Adult Social Adult Social
Care                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

4. Which department is responsible for assessing social care charges? The
Financial Assessment Team Adult Social Care

5. How many officers in either department carry out an overlapping role
with regard to appointeeship and care charges? There are 8 Finance
Officers carrying out this dual role and 3 managers overseeing the
decision making

6. How many times has the appointeeship team responded to a consultation
on behalf of individuals or any group of benefits claimants regarding a
change in the council’s charging policy, since 2015? None- there has only
been one policy change in our non-residential charging policy since 2015
which was in January 2016 and that went through full consultation process.

7. How many appeals about care charges has the appointeeship team
submitted to the financial assessment team since 2015? There are no
records held on this

8. How many complaints has the appointeeship team submitted regarding care
charges since 2015? There have been no complaints made  

9. How many times has the appointeeship team sought or referred
individuals they act for, to independent advice (whether third sector,
legal aid or privately funded) about care charges, since 2015? The team
do not keep a record of this information.

10. How many times has the appointeeship team questioned the accuracy,
fairness or legal validity of individuals’ care charges or the council’s
charging policy, since 2015? We have a robust quality monitoring process
in place which includes daily discussion by the management team on
questions of accuracy and fairness of a client charge.

11. Does the council treat appointeeship as a Care Act service? If so,
does it charge for that as part of the Care Act charging system? Yes it
is a statutory service and is not chargeable

12. How much does it charge, if it makes a charge, per month or per week
or per year, please? There is no charge for our appointeeship service

13. If appointeeship is not provided for through the Care Act, does the
council allow for a DRE deduction from Disability Benefits income, for the
charge it makes for appointeeship (assuming a person is otherwise
chargeable)? Please see above answers

14. If the council does not operate appointeeships for adult social care
clients, does the council permit a full DRE deduction from Disability
Benefits income, for any charge levied by any other corporate or private
appointee (assuming a person is otherwise chargeable)? Luton Borough
Council DOES operate appointeeship for Luton Council funded clients. If we
became aware of a private appointee charging for their service we would
make the DWP aware and would if apply discretion to disregard it from our
financial assessment.

15. In respect of all council clients who are currently in receipt of
adult social care services, regarded as liable to pay a charge for their
adult social care services, for whom the appointee role is currently
undertaken - how is the relevant department holding the appointeeship
responsibility proposing to manage the conflict of interest presented by
the judgment in the Norfolk CC v SH case in December 2020, given that the
decision means that other similar policies are presumptively unlawful?  We
are reviewing our non-residential charging policy with our legal team to
see if there are any changes we can make.

 

 

I hope this information is helpful.

 

Next Steps

If you are not satisfied with my response you can ask for an internal
review by contacting us at the address above or by email at
[1][Luton Borough Council request email]. Please set out any specific concerns you have.
Please quote the reference number provided above when contacting us.

 

Should you remain unhappy with the internal review, you can refer your
concerns to the Information Commissioner:

 

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Website: [2]www.ico.org.uk

 

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including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes
of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication,
requires the permission of the copyright holder. You may apply for
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Please note that under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC
Directive) Regulations 2003 Luton Council asks not to receive unsolicited
marketing communications.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Khurram Nawaz

Complaints and Information Compliance Officer

Business Intelligence

Luton Council

01582 547373

 

 

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