LAs charging policy and Personal Expenses Allowance

The request was successful.

Dear Local Authority,
These questions all relate to persons under age 65 living a residential care home paid for all or in part by your council’s social care budget

1) How many people in your Local Authority under 65 live in a residential care home?

2) How much disposable income/PEA do care home residents have available each week for their needs?

3) Calculation of income

a) How does your residential charging policy calculate income?
b) What is included in your income calculation?
c) What is excluded from your income?
d) Which (if any) parts of the income calculation are discretionary?
e) Which parts of the income calculation are mandatory?
f) Do you use the same calculation model for care home residents above the age of 65 versus those below that age?
g) If the model differs, what are those differences?
4) Discretionary Increases
a) Does the Local Authority exercise its discretion to allow individuals under 65 years in residential care homes more than this minimum amount?
b) If yes, what is the weekly amount available to them and (as in 3 above) how is it calculated?
5) Is there any difference in the amount people are left with each week if the Local Authority is acting as an Appointee?

Yours faithfully,

Anita Bellows

InformationRights, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Ms Bellows

Request for Information RFI-2995-21

Further to your request for information LAs charging policy and Personal Expenses Allowance , received on 27 May 2021, I am writing to ask for some further clarification of some aspects of your request.

In order for us to process your request as fully as possible could you please provide the following information:

These questions all relate to persons under age 65 living a residential care home paid for all or in part by your council's social care budget-

1. Please clarify if you are referring to only adults from age 18-64
2. Please clarify if you are referring to council run/ owned residential care sites or commissioned care providers

The Freedom of information Act 2000 allows the council 20 working days in which to respond to requests. However, this "clock" stops should we need to seek clarification in order to locate or identify relevant information.

As such, your request is now on hold until we receive the clarification requested.

If you wish to proceed with this request please send your clarification to us, quoting the above reference number.

Please note that if we have not received your clarification within 15 working days we will close your request.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yvonne Jackson
Assurance Officer
Assurance Team
Resources and Transformation
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
3rd Floor (HR Suite)
Civic Centre
Darwall Street
Walsall
WS1 1DG
Web: www.walsall.gov.uk

 Disclaimer: IF THIS EMAIL IS MARKED PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL - PLEASE RESPECT THAT AND DO NOT FORWARD IT TO ANYONE ELSE WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR. The information in this message should be regarded as confidential and is intended for the addressee only unless explicitly stated.  If you have received this message in error it must be deleted and the sender notified.  The views expressed in this message are personal and not necessarily those of Walsall MBC unless explicitly stated.  E-mails sent or received from Walsall MBC may be intercepted and read by the Council.  Interception will only occur to ensure compliance with Council policies or procedures or regulatory obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for the purposes of essential maintenance or support of the e-mail system. You should also be aware that any email may be subject of a request under Data Protection, Freedom of Information or Environmental Information legislation and therefore could be disclosed to third parties.

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show quoted sections

Dear InformationRights,

1) yes adults from 18-64.
2) all residential care placements both in and out of county paid for by the council.

Yours sincerely,

Anita Bellows

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Bellows

 

Request for Information RFI-3139-21

 

Thank you for your request for information relating to LAs charging policy
and Personal Expenses Allowance which was received on 01 July 2021.

 

In accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
the council will respond to your request within 20 working days, saying
whether we have the information that you want, and if there will be any
charges. 

 

If, for any reason, we cannot provide you with the information, we will
tell you why.

If we need to clarify your request, we will contact you again.

 

Update – Your Information Rights Requests and Coronavirus:

 

Walsall Council is working extremely hard to ensure the safety and
wellbeing of all residents of the borough during this difficult period. As
part of this working practices and priorities within the council may need
to change in line with advice from the Government and our own Public
Health Service.

 

This may mean that our usual processes for responding to requests for
information will need to change, and unfortunately you may experience
delays in receiving the information you have requested.

 

We apologise in advance if we cannot respond within the statutory
timeframe of your request - however should your request be effected we
will let you know and will endeavour to keep you updated on our progress.

 

We ask that show understanding and patience as we work through this
difficult time and we assure that we will do our upmost to ensure you
receive a response to your request as soon as possible

 

In the meantime, if you need to contact me about your request, please do
so quoting the above reference number.

 

Yours sincerely,

Julie Noble

 

 

Assurance Team, Resources and Transformation

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council,

Civic Centre,

Darwall Street,

Walsall, WS1 1DG

Email: [Walsall Council request email]

Service area: [1]walsall.gov.uk/ Information Governance and Assurance

Website:  [2]www.walsall.gov.uk

 

[3]http://int.walsall.gov.uk/portals/0/Comm...

Disclaimer: IF THIS EMAIL IS MARKED PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL - PLEASE
RESPECT CONFIDENTIALITY AND DO NOT SHARE OR FORWARD IT TO ANYONE ELSE
WITHOUT THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF THE AUTHOR. The information in this message
should be regarded as confidential and is intended for the addressee only
unless explicitly stated.  If you have received this message in error it
must be deleted and the sender notified.  The views expressed in this
message are personal and not necessarily those of Walsall MBC unless
explicitly stated.  E-mails sent or received from Walsall MBC may be
intercepted and read by the Council.  Interception will only occur to
ensure compliance with Council policies or procedures or regulatory
obligations, to prevent or detect crime. You should also be aware that any
email may be the subject of a request under Data Protection, Freedom of
Information or Environmental Information legislation and therefore could
be disclosed to third parties.

 

E-mail Security: Communication by internet email is not secure as
messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. Therefore we
strongly advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to
unrelated third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you
have an enquiry of this nature please provide a postal address to allow us
to communicate with you in a more secure way. If you want us to respond by
email you must realise that there can be no guarantee of privacy.

 

 

References

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2. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Bellows,

 

Freedom of Information Request RFI-3139-21

 

Further to your request for information about LAs charging policy and
Personal Expenses Allowance, I can tell you the following:

 

1) How many people in your Local Authority under 65 live in a residential
care home?     During the period 01.04.20 to 31.3.21 there were 62 nursing
clients under 65 and 108 residential clients under the age of 65

 

2) How much disposable income/PEA do care home residents have available
each week for their needs?  Most clients have £30.65 unless they are not
entitled to the savings credit element of £5.75 which then reduces their
PEA to £24.90

 

3) Calculation of income

 

a) How does your residential charging policy calculate income?  This is
all calculated in line with guidance set out in the Care Act 2014

 

b) What is included in your income calculation?  All income received by
the service user e.g. State pension, private pensions etc. as per Care Act
guidance

 

c) What is excluded from your income?  Any income listed as being
disregarded under the Care Act e.g. DLA mobility

 

d) Which (if any) parts of the income calculation are discretionary?  None

 

e) Which parts of the income calculation are mandatory?  All as per Care
Act guidance

 

f) Do you use the same calculation model for care home residents above the
age of 65 versus those below that age?  Yes

 

g) If the model differs, what are those differences?  n/a

 

4) Discretionary Increases

 

a) Does the Local Authority exercise its discretion to allow individuals
under 65 years in residential care homes more than this minimum amount?  
If this is linked to the PEA then service users would be looked at
individually but on a general basis no

 

b) If yes, what is the weekly amount available to them and (as in 3 above)
how is it calculated?  As comment in question 2

 

5) Is there any difference in the amount people are left with each week if
the Local Authority is acting as an Appointee?  No

 

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act 2000 requests will be subject to copyright protection.  In
most cases the copyright will be owned by Walsall Council. The copyright
in respect of other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated.

 

You are free to use any information supplied to you in response to this
request for your own non-commercial research or private study purposes.
The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed by a
limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting.
 However, any other type of re-use, for example by publishing the
information in analogue or digital form, including on the internet, will
require the permission of the copyright owner.

 

 

I hope that the information provided is useful to you. However, if you are
dissatisfied, you should set out in writing your grounds for complaint and
send to: Corporate Assurance Manager, Resources & Transformation, Civic
Centre, Darwall Street, Walsall, WS1 1TP.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision.
Please remember that, generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you
have first exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF. [1]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

 

Yours sincerely,

Yvonne Jackson

 

 

Assurance Team, Resources and Transformation

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council,

Civic Centre,

Darwall Street,

Walsall, WS1 1DG

Email: [Walsall Council request email]

Service area: [2]walsall.gov.uk/ Information Governance and Assurance

Website:  [3]www.walsall.gov.uk

 

[4]http://int.walsall.gov.uk/portals/0/Comm...

Disclaimer: IF THIS EMAIL IS MARKED PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL - PLEASE
RESPECT CONFIDENTIALITY AND DO NOT SHARE OR FORWARD IT TO ANYONE ELSE
WITHOUT THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF THE AUTHOR. The information in this message
should be regarded as confidential and is intended for the addressee only
unless explicitly stated.  If you have received this message in error it
must be deleted and the sender notified.  The views expressed in this
message are personal and not necessarily those of Walsall MBC unless
explicitly stated.  E-mails sent or received from Walsall MBC may be
intercepted and read by the Council.  Interception will only occur to
ensure compliance with Council policies or procedures or regulatory
obligations, to prevent or detect crime. You should also be aware that any
email may be the subject of a request under Data Protection, Freedom of
Information or Environmental Information legislation and therefore could
be disclosed to third parties.

 

E-mail Security: Communication by internet email is not secure as
messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. Therefore we
strongly advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to
unrelated third parties would be likely to cause harm or distress. If you
have an enquiry of this nature please provide a postal address to allow us
to communicate with you in a more secure way. If you want us to respond by
email you must realise that there can be no guarantee of privacy.

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
2. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...