This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Resource Allocation Systems for Adult Social Care'.

Resource Panel Process – Updated Sept 19 
 
 
DERBY CITY COUNCIL: Peoples directorate  
Adult care process for authorising expenditure for community, residential and 
nursing care 2019/20 

Background  
The Care Act 2014 requires Derby city council to provide advice, information, 
assessment and support to those people who are likely to have eligible needs under 
the act.   
At a time of on- going budgetary constraint it is the responsibility of all managers and 
staff to ensure that the council is compliant with its statutory responsibilities and that 
the available council resources are used in a fair, responsible and legal manner. 
To comply with the Council’s statutory duties and financial regulations the SEAL 
framework (Safe, Effective, Affordable, and Legal) should be used for all authorised 
expenditure.  
Good practice principles and guidelines 
Putting the personalised customer journey into practice is intended to deliver better 
outcomes for the customer and manage the Council’s resources more efficiently. 
The practice of all staff should be guided by the following principles and guidelines: 
• The potential for community support using the three conversation model should be 
adopted so that customers and carers fully consider the use of natural support and 
universal services before social care support is considered. 
• Use of OT, equipment and the range of Telecare services should be considered 
• There can be no commitment to long term support until all options for recovery and 
rehabilitation have been considered 
• No customer should be admitted to long term residential/nursing care direct from 
hospital or in a crisis without the necessary assessments and rehabilitation support.  
• Assessments and support plans should be based upon a positive approach to risk 
taking and should not be overly restrictive, 
• Capacity should be assumed unless there is significant reason to suggest that they 
struggle to understand the decision specific issue being considered. 
• Where people need long term support, practice must move away from 
residential/nursing care to providing people with a personal budget and the option to 
remain at home. 
• The RAS must be used for all customers to establish what the Council reasonably 
expects to pay for each customer’s long term support. 

Resource Panel Process – Updated Sept 19 
 
 
• Where it appears that a customer’s needs cannot be safely met within the RAS a 
risk assessment should be completed to identify the essential support required to 
maintain the person’s health and wellbeing. 
• If a personal budget is to be taken as a direct payment it should not cost more than 
if the council directly sourcing the support.   
• Staff should seek the appropriate authorisation dependent upon the cost of the 
support package. 
• No financial commitment can be made without the agreement of the budget 
manager or Head of Service where the cost of the package exceeds the team 
manager’s limit. . 
• No services are to be arranged outside of this process – if operational difficulties 
arise advice from HOS should be sought 
 
Prevention 
For customers and families contacting the dept advice and guidance should be 
provided at the earliest opportunity. Talking points should be used to provide early 
local conversations about the issues concerning the person and seek to find local 
solutions.  
When customers live in LAC areas they should be invited to connect with their local 
area coordinator. 
For these and all other customers, sign-posting to universally available services, 
preventative services and the voluntary sector should be considered. 
Supporting crisis and emergencies/ facilitating hospital discharge 
In an emergency situation some short term support may need to be arranged.  This 
support may need to be put in quickly to reduce the risk of harm to the individual or 
carer and should be time limited to 4 weeks.  An assessment of need must be 
completed prior to the commencement of an emergency or short term service. 
The weekly panel process does not accommodate the speed of decision making 
required for hospital discharge.  In most situations, support to facilitate discharge will 
be arranged through the D2A pathways.  Where longer term support is required 
following assessment through pathways 1 and 2, there should usually be sufficient 
time for normal financial authorisation processes to be followed.   
For both crisis and emergencies in the community, and for urgent hospital 
discharges, team managers will be accountable for authorising packages of care up 
to and include the cost of standard nursing care for a maximum of four weeks.   

Resource Panel Process – Updated Sept 19 
 
 
Team managers must ensure the following before authorising support plans and 
budgets. 
-  For customers in the community this must be a genuinely urgent situation, that 
cannot wait for the next panel.    Agreement for team manager authorisation 
cannot be used where the need for financial authorisation has become urgent 
due to lack of advanced planning and time management. 
 
-  The manager must satisfy themselves that mental capacity has been 
considered.  This is particularly important where urgent respite/short term care is 
being considered. 
 
-  The manager should ensure that all appropriate alternatives have been 
considered including, but not limited to equipment, occupational therapy input 
and assistive technology. 
 
-  Where a request is for an urgent short term care placement, this should only be 
agreed following confirmation that pathway 2 ‘step up’ beds are not appropriate 
or available.  Shared Lives should also be considered.  
 
-  Increases to packages of care (community and hospital) should be prioritised for 
early initial review. Long term increases will need to follow usual financial 
authorisation process.  
 
-  Managers should ensure decisions are recorded in LAS using the authorisation 
comments box and clearly indicate rational for authorisation out of panel.  This 
cannot be delegated to senior practitioners.  
 
-  For customers with a direct payment, where an urgent increase is required that 
cannot be met within the existing DP funds, authorisation should only be granted 
for a one off payment, 
 
 
 
Reablement, rehabilitation and recovery 
 
After an emergency, hospital admission or crisis, some people may require a period 
of independence training, rehabilitation or recovery.  This should be arranged as the 
next step, where it is needed.  Specific outcomes, targets and timescales must be 
set, in agreement with the customer.  Again, the aim should be for the person to 
return to some stability and exit the service. 
Where it is clear that the person needs longer term support after a period of 
‘reablement,’ the Myself assessment should be completed to identify the indicative 
budget for the individual.  Staff must use the RAS tool and discuss the outcome with 

Resource Panel Process – Updated Sept 19 
 
 
their team manager if they feel the person has complex needs which could not be 
safely met within the RAS figure. The aim is to establish what the Council should 
reasonably pay to meet the customers eligible support needs. 
Preparing young people for adulthood. 
The RAS will not reflect the support that people within education are receiving as 
part of their EHCP or any health support.  The indicative budget therefore needs to 
clearly meet social care needs and ensure that a personal budget is agreed that 
meets their essential needs while in education. Staff should consider the support that 
is required during holidays, evenings and weekends to meet identified outcomes and 
ensure that Carers assessments are completed where this is agreed with the 
parents.   
People with complex needs 
A small proportion of the people we support have complex needs arising from 
complex and multiple disabilities.  Where the RAS based indicative budget appears 
to be insufficient to meet their needs the continuing care framework should be 
considered. 
For more advice around completion of checklists and the decision support tool 
please refer to the Continuing care practice guidance. 
Until the CCG have made a decision regarding funding assessors should ensure that 
essential social care support is provided in conjunction with health care support 
provided by either specialist services, the GP or community nursing services. 
Assessment staff should not include the provision of health care tasks in a social 
care provision of service. 
 
Staff will need to need to complete a risk assessment which identifies: 
• the contribution of natural support, universal services, the voluntary sector and 
assistive technology 
• the risks to the customer and others if support was only provided to the RAS level 
• the reason why the RAS level cannot safely meet their needs 
 
All requests to enhance the indicative budget should come to a panel meeting with a 
copy of the myself assessment, risk assessments and a clear rational to explain why 
it would be unsafe to limit the personal budget to the RAS figure. The request should 
be brought to the panel at the earliest opportunity to enable support planning with the 
customer and family to continue with minimal delay. 

Resource Panel Process – Updated Sept 19 
 
 
 Authorisation process for all requests. 
All requests for support must be recorded in LAS using the authorisation and support 
planning episode.   
 All financial arrangements for an individual need to be authorised by a team 
manager, head of service or service director based upon the weekly amount being 
requested. 
The support planning process will require any health funding to be identified and 
costed. 
Panels across all teams will use the LAS process to consider all funding requests.  
All funding requests will require a support plan to be completed in LAS Team 
Managers should scrutinise support plans before they are sent to panel.  Business 
support will return incomplete support plans to the social care worker and they will 
not be considered at panel until all relevant details have been completed.   
What needs to come to panel? 
• New applications where costs is over £250 pw, including long term agreement for 
increases or changes agreed out of panel.    
• Increases to an existing package that are over £250 pw 
• Annual reviews of community packages where the weekly cost is over 1,000pw 
• Requests to enhance the RAS 
Financial authorisation levels 
When authorising packages of support and residential placements full consideration 
of the legal responsibilities of the council to manage the public purse within financial 
regulations and safely meet assessed needs by purchasing care and support that 
provides value for money has to be considered. 
The financial scheme of delegation identifies the appropriate authorisation levels for 
the 4 tiers of management in the dept. 
Team managers – This would be a weekly expenditure of up to £250 per week. 
Team managers can therefore authorise up to this level, with the exception of urgent 
and crisis situation in the community, or in order to facilitate hospital discharge, 
where then can authorise up to the cost of standard nursing care.  
Head of Service – This means a weekly expenditure of £961 per week. Heads of 
Service will agree packages up to this level at panel. In an emergency, packages 
over £250 pw would require HoS authorisation. 

Resource Panel Process – Updated Sept 19 
 
 
Service Directors – This means at weekly expenditure between £ 962 and £4,806 
per week. Heads of service will fully scrutinise requests at this level at panel and 
contact Service directors with a clear recommendation and rational. 
Directors - This is equivalent to £4,807 plus per week. Heads of Service will fully 
scrutinise requests and prepare a clear recommendation and rational for Service 
directors to discuss with the Director.