Adult Social Care - Charges Avoidance

The request was successful.

Dear Cambridgeshire County Council,

Background

The Council and the public are well aware of the rising number of elderly people and the rising cost of their care, which is grudgingly financed by the Council and the public.

As we get near to the age when we will need care, we find ourselves targeted by financial consultants offering financial planning and care fees protection, euphemisms for tax avoidance, so that those who believe in meeting their obligations have to subsidise those who don't.

Questions

1. Has the Council estimated the loss to the public finances in Cambridgeshire by the disposal of assets, prior to an application for care being made?
2. What steps is the Council taking to minimise these losses to the public purse?

Yours faithfully,

Eric Smith

FOI, Cambridgeshire County Council

Dear Mr Smith

Re: Freedom of Information Request ref 2988

Thank you for your email of 24 June 2013 in which you requested information about adult social care charge avoidance.

Your request will be dealt with in line with the Freedom of Information Act and its regulations. In accordance with the Act, the Council aims to respond to all requests within 20 working days, in this instance, by 22 July 2013.

If we require further information, clarification or a fee in order to fulfil your request we will contact you again. Please quote the reference number above in all future correspondence concerning this request.

Yours sincerely,

Jo Withey
Information Governance Officer

SH1202
Shire Hall
Castle Hill
Cambridge
CB3 0AP

01223 729164

The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you receive this email by mistake please notify the sender and delete it immediately. Opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Cambridgeshire County Council. All sent and received email from Cambridgeshire County Council is automatically scanned for the presence of computer viruses and security issues. Visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk<http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk>

Green Anne-Marie, Cambridgeshire County Council

Attn: Mr Eric Smith

Dear Mr Smith

I write with reference to your request of 24 June 2012 regarding Adult social care - charges avoidance. I am contacting you to seek clarification on your request as follows:

* Could you please confirm that the first part of your request refers to people disposing of their assets in order to avoid paying for their elderly care and relying on the Council to do so.
* Question 1 is asking whether the Council has estimated how much money it will have to pay to cover the losses caused by people disposing of their assets.
* Question 2: are you asking:
* what the Council is doing to make up the loss of funds caused by people disposing of their assets, or
* what the Council is doing to prevent people disposing of their assets, or
* what steps the Council is taking to prevent people relying on the Council to pay for their care after having disposed of their assets.

Please clarify these points, or rephrase your request, so that we are able to continue processing your request.

Kind Regards

Anne-Marie Green
Team Administrator
Regulation, Performance and Business Support
Cambridgeshire County Council
Box CC1221, Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge CB3 0AP
Tel: +44 (01223) 715903
Fax: +44 (01223) 475982
Email: [email address]

The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you receive this email by mistake please notify the sender and delete it immediately. Opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Cambridgeshire County Council. All sent and received email from Cambridgeshire County Council is automatically scanned for the presence of computer viruses and security issues. Visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk<http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk>

Dear Anne-Marie Green

Perhaps it will help if I put the reasons behind this information request in context.

I am a retired member of the Cambridgeshire County branch of Unison and am writing piece for our website:

http://tinyURL.com/UCRM-Index

and I need to be able to say with confidence if the Council has powers which it can and is using to ensure that all elderly people have the means to pay the full cost of their care are doing so, or if there is a loophole in the law and regulations which makes the payment of the charges in full effectively voluntary. Clearly if the Council does not have the powers, this is not a reflection on the Council, but a clear indication that my attention needs to be directed towards Central Government.

My understanding is that the Council is responsible for meeting the costs in full or in part for persons receiving social care. If a person has avoided tax by distributing their assets prior to their death, then there is loss to the public purse. In addition since the whole cost of social care is not met entirely by Local Authorities, social care providers have to impose higher charges on those who do pay for themselves to subsidise those who are supported by public funds, so there are also individual losses.

My first question is intended to get confirmation of whether or not there is any official or informal estimate of the losses created by the disposal of assets, and if the Council is already seeking to address the issue, perhaps by refusing to pay care charges for those people who have wilfully disposed of their assets.

I agree with your interpretation of my second question, but the emphasis needs to be not on whether the Council is failing to deal with the issue, but on whether Central Government needs to give Local Authorities additional powers.

Yours sincerely,

Eric Smith

Green Anne-Marie, Cambridgeshire County Council

1 Attachment

Attn: Mr Eric Smith

Dear Mr Smith

I write with reference to your request of 24 June 2013 regarding Adult social care - charges avoidance.

Please find attached the requested information.

I hope this information is helpful but if you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review, you should write to Joanna Leung, Head of Business Transformation, Box SH1202, Shire Hall, Cambridge CB3 0AP within 40 days of the date of this letter.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Generally, the ICO will not undertake a review or make a decision on a request until the internal review process has been completed.

Kind Regards

Anne-Marie Green
Team Administrator
Regulation, Performance and Business Support
Cambridgeshire County Council
Box CC1221, Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge CB3 0AP
Tel: +44 (01223) 715903
Fax: +44 (01223) 475982
Email: [email address]

The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you receive this email by mistake please notify the sender and delete it immediately. Opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Cambridgeshire County Council. All sent and received email from Cambridgeshire County Council is automatically scanned for the presence of computer viruses and security issues. Visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk<http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk>