Closurse of Independent Living Fund

The request was partially successful.

Dear Hertfordshire County Council,

Following the new decision by the Government to close the ILF
(Independent Living Fund) on June 30th 2015 and devolve funding to
Local Authorities, please could you answer the following
questions.

1: Will monies transferred from the closure of the ILF to your
local authority be ring fenced to ILF recipients in your area? If
no decision has yet been taken, what is the process and timescale
for this happening?

2: Please could you state the process and timescale for meeting
with current ILF recipients to prepare personal care plans for 1st
July 2015 onwards (bearing in mind the assessments at the Transfer
Review visits only indicate desired outcomes and do not produce an
actual care package).

3: Will you be making any special dispensation for allowing ILF
users to continue to employ their current & in many cases long
standing carers of many years, bearing in mind some may be paid a
higher rate than what LA's may usually advise and be family
members
too?

Many Thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Frank Black

Herts Direct, Hertfordshire County Council

Dear Enquirer

Your message has been received by Hertfordshire County Council
and will be dealt with as soon as possible. Our customer service
standard is to reply to you within ten working days. When we
contact you we will give you a reference number so you can track
your enquiry in case any followup is required.

Please note that if your enquiry is urgent and relates to:
• safeguarding or concerns for an adult - please call us on
0300 123 4042
• child protection or social care concerns for a child -
please call us on 0300 123 4043

This is an auto-acknowledgement message in response to the email
you have sent to Hertfordshire County Council
([email address]).

Regards

HertsDirect
Hertfordshire County Council

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ensure compliance with council policies or procedures or regulatory
obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for the purposes of essential
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Herts Direct, Hertfordshire County Council

Dear Enquirer

Your message has been received by Hertfordshire County Council
and will be dealt with as soon as possible. Our customer service
standard is to reply to you within ten working days. When we
contact you we will give you a reference number so you can track
your enquiry in case any followup is required.

Please note that if your enquiry is urgent and relates to:
• safeguarding or concerns for an adult - please call us on
0300 123 4042
• child protection or social care concerns for a child -
please call us on 0300 123 4043

This is an auto-acknowledgement message in response to the email
you have sent to Hertfordshire County Council
([email address]).

Regards

HertsDirect
Hertfordshire County Council

****Disclaimer****

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 Hertfordshire County Council unless explicitly stated. Please be aware
that emails sent to or received from Hertfordshire County Council 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 email system.

Herts Direct, Hertfordshire County Council

6 Attachments

Dear Frank Black,

Thank you for your email. Your message has been sent to the relevant
department and will be dealt with as soon as possible. Should you need to
make contact with us again on this matter, please quote reference number:
44480
       
Kind regards

Zoe at HertsDirect

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Information Governance, Hertfordshire County Council

Dear Mr Black

 

Reference number: FOI/HCS/09/14/7698

 

Thank you for your correspondence of the 10th September 2014 requesting
the following information:

 

“1: Will monies transferred from the closure of the ILF to your local
authority be ring fenced to ILF recipients in your area? If no decision
has yet been taken, what is the process and timescale for this happening?

2: Please could you state the process and timescale for meeting with
current ILF recipients to prepare personal care plans for 1st July 2015
onwards (bearing in mind the assessments at the Transfer Review visits
only indicate desired outcomes and do not produce an actual care package).

3: Will you be making any special dispensation for allowing ILF users to
continue to employ their current & in many cases long standing carers of
many years, bearing in mind some may be paid a higher rate than what LA's
may usually advise and be family members too?”

 

 

Your request for information is being considered under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.  We will respond to your request as quickly as
possible, and by close of  8th October 2014 at the latest.

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, quoting
the reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Access Team

Postal Point CHN 305

Hertfordshire County Council, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SG13 8DE

t: 01992 555848 Comnet / Internal: 25848

Fax: 01992 588117

Email: [1][email address]

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Information Governance, Hertfordshire County Council

Dear Mr Black

 

Reference number: FOI/HCS/09/14/7698

 

On  10th September 2014, Hertfordshire County Council received the
following request for information from you:

 

“Following the new decision by the Government to close the ILF
(Independent Living Fund) on June 30th 2015 and devolve funding to Local
Authorities, please could you answer the following questions.

 

1: Will monies transferred from the closure of the ILF to your local
authority be ring fenced to ILF recipients in your area? If no decision
has yet been taken, what is the process and timescale for this happening?

 

2: Please could you state the process and timescale for meeting with
current ILF recipients to prepare personal care plans for 1st July 2015
onwards (bearing in mind the assessments at the Transfer Review visits
only indicate desired outcomes and do not produce an actual care package).

 

3: Will you be making any special dispensation for allowing ILF users to
continue to employ their current & in many cases long standing carers of
many years, bearing in mind some may be paid a higher rate than what LA's
may usually advise and be family members too?”

 

Your request for information has been considered under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.  I can confirm that Hertfordshire County Council
does hold the information you have requested and can respond as follows:

 

1: Will monies transferred from the closure of the ILF to your local
authority be ring fenced to ILF recipients in your area? If no decision
has yet been taken, what is the process and timescale for this happening?

No, the money will not be ring fenced to people currently receiving ILF
monies. From 30th June 2015, ILF recipients will have been assessed and
have funding and services in place to continue to meet their needs in line
with Hertfordshire Health and Community Services eligibility criteria.

2: Please could you state the process and timescale for meeting with
current ILF recipients to prepare personal care plans for 1st July 2015
onwards (bearing in mind the assessments at the Transfer Review visits
only indicate desired outcomes and do not produce an actual care package).

People currently receiving ILF monies in Hertfordshire are having a joint
review with the ILF assessor and a Health and Community Services care
manager. At these meetings the transfer process is explained and people
are given a range of written information about Fair Access to Care,
eligibility criteria, using brokers, direct payments, HertsHelp, POhWER
advocacy, eMarketplace and Carers in Herts. This information is also
explained and is available on HertsDirect, from this link:

[1]http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/heal...

 

Also see the Health and Community Services Equality Impact Assessments
(EQIA) on Hertsdirect:

[2]http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-council/...

 

Transfer of ILF has been discussed by the  Adult Health and Care Cabinet
Panel (AH&CCP )  - see meetings and minutes:

AH&CCP - Friday 5th July 2013:

[3]http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-council/...

 

by Cabinet - Monday 15th July 2013:

[4]http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-council/...

 

and again by the  AH&CCP - Wednesday 7th May 2014:

[5]http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-council/...

 

Each person will then be visited again between January and March 2015 to
identify how their eligible needs can continue to be met, and a personal
budget agreed to ensure services are in place to maintain people’s
independence and choice from 1st July 2015.

 

3: Will you be making any special dispensation for allowing ILF users to
continue to employ their current & in many cases long standing carers of
many years, bearing in mind some may be paid a higher rate than what LA's
may usually advise and be family members too?

Each person’s situation will be considered individually, and care managers
will be ensuring that peoples assessed, eligible needs are met so they can
continue to live independently and safely.

 

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, quoting
the reference number on this correspondence. To find out more about
Freedom of Information, please visit [6]www.hertsdirect.org/foi

 

If you are unhappy with the way the County Council has handled your
request for information you may request an internal review of the request.
This will be carried out by a member of the County Council Legal Services
Team, who has had no prior involvement with the request. Requests for an
internal review should be sent to the Information Governance Unit at the
address above.

 

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the internal review you are
entitled to ask the Information Commissioner to investigate your
complaint. You should write to: FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution, Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Information Access Team

Postal Point CHN 305

Hertfordshire County Council, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SG13 8DE

t: 01992 555848 Comnet / Internal: 25848

Fax: 01992 588117

Email: [7][email address]

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Dear Information Governance,

Further to your response I wonder if you could clarify something. You state that you will not be ring fencing the money devolved to Individual ILF recipients. Yet meetings noted within the links that you provide seem to indicate that you are looking at ring fencing to ILF recipients, please can you explain your position on this as it seems very confusing. Many Thanks.

http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-council/...

Yours sincerely,

Frank Black

Information Governance, Hertfordshire County Council

Dear Mr Black

 

Reference number: FOI/HCS/09/14/7698

 

On  Friday 12th September 2014, Hertfordshire County Council received the
following request for information from you:

 

“Further to your response I wonder if you could clarify something. You
state that you will not be ring fencing the money devolved to Individual
ILF recipients. Yet meetings noted within the links that you provide seem
to indicate that you are looking at ring fencing  to ILF recipients,
please can you explain your position on this as it seems very confusing.
Many Thanks.

 

[1]http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-council/...

 

Thank you for coming back to us seeking clarification of the discrepancy
between mentions of ring-fencing and not ring-fencing the ILF in our
response and recorded in the Cabinet and Adult Health and Care Cabinet
Panel Meetings.

Your request for information has been considered under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.  I can confirm that Hertfordshire County Council
does hold the information you have requested and can respond as follows:

 

In December 2012 the Minister for Disabled People announced that the
Government had decided that on 31^st March 2015 the ILF would close. From
that date the Government indicated its intention that funding previously
used for the ILF would be devolved to local authorities, and from that
date they (local authorities) would be solely responsible for providing
 support to the disabled.

 

In guidance provided by Central Government it was indicated that the sums
that were to be devolved could be incorporated in the a Local Authority’s
budget and did not need to be ring fenced for  meeting the needs of those
service users that were to cease receiving ILF funding.

 

The Hertfordshire County Council Health and Community Services Department
realised  the impact of the cessation of the ILF would  have on its budget
to support adults with community care needs. In light of this, it sought
approval from Members to allowing the devolved funding from Central
Government to be used to meet the anticipated rise in demand for services
caused by the cessation of the ILF.

 

The  paper to which you refer sought to progress this request:

[2]http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-council/...

 

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, quoting
the reference number on this correspondence. To find out more about
Freedom of Information, please visit [3]www.hertsdirect.org/foi

 

If you are unhappy with the way the County Council has handled your
request for information you may request an internal review of the request.
This will be carried out by a member of the County Council Legal Services
Team, who has had no prior involvement with the request. Requests for an
internal review should be sent to the Information Governance Unit at the
address above.

 

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the internal review you are
entitled to ask the Information Commissioner to investigate your
complaint. You should write to: FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution, Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Information Access Team

Postal Point CHN 305

Hertfordshire County Council, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SG13 8DE

t: 01992 555848 Comnet / Internal: 25848

Fax: 01992 588117

Email: [4][email address]

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Dear Information Governance,

Thanks for this but the link that you have sent does not appear to clarify the situation at all. The passage below is quoted from your link. This still seems to suggest that you recommend ring fencing the budget to ILF recipients. You are now saying this is not what is happening, but there is no record of where this decision has been made. Please can you show where the decision NOT to ringfence was made. Many Thanks.

"3. Recommendation
The Adult Care and Health Cabinet Panel will consider a report on this item of business at its meeting on 5 July 2013. The Panel will be invited to recommend to Cabinet that the monies currently allocated to 138 individuals via the Independent Living Fund are ringfenced and continue to be used to meet those recipient’s eligible care needs, subject to regular care reviews and appropriate adjustments to care packages.
3.2 The Panel’s recommendation(s) to Cabinet will be reported orally at the meeting and circulated to Members in the Order of Business sheet. "

Yours sincerely,

Frank Black

Information Governance, Hertfordshire County Council

Dear Mr Black
The response given below traces the course of ILF money from the cessation of the ILF and Central Government plans to devolve the money into the main HCC budget, to the Hertfordshire County Council Health and Community Services Department
realisation of the impact of the cessation of the ILF would have on its budget to support adults with community care needs if this money disappeared into the general HCC budget. In light of this realisation, it sought approval from Members to allowing the devolved funding from Central Government to be used to meet the anticipated rise in demand for services caused by the cessation of the ILF, and put into HCS budget.

For decisions made, you need to see the Minutes of any meeting. This link relates to the latest meeting to discuss this topic. Please see the Minutes at this link:
http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-council/...

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, quoting the reference number on this correspondence. To find out more about Freedom of Information, please visit [3]www.hertsdirect.org/foi


If you are unhappy with the way the County Council has handled your request for information you may request an internal review of the request. This will be carried out by a member of the County Council Legal Services Team, who has had no prior involvement with the request. Requests for an internal review should be sent to the Information Governance Unit at the address above.


If you are unhappy with the outcome of the internal review you are entitled to ask the Information Commissioner to investigate your complaint. You should write to: FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution, Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely,

Information Access Team
Postal Point CHN 305
Hertfordshire County Council, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SG13 8DE
t: 01992 555848 Comnet / Internal: 25848
Fax: 01992 588117
Email: [email address]
----------------------------------------------------------
Hertsdirect / Twitter / Facebook
Hertfordshire – County of Opportunity
The Information Access Team supports Hertfordshire County Council's Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations activity.

show quoted sections

Dear Information Governance,

I'm sorry but I'm still not seeing the minutes of any meeting showing where the decision was taken NOT to ring fence the money to ILF recipients.

The Minutes of the meeting shown indicate that that you ARE considering ring fencing the money.

Please can you isolate the information for me showing the information with regards NOT ring fencing this money.

Many Thanks.

Yours sincerely,

Frank Black

Information Governance, Hertfordshire County Council

Dear Mr Black

Reference number: FOI/HCS/09/14/7698

http://www.hertsdirect.org/your-council/...

Paragraph 2.2 under Item 5 of the Cabinet Meeting for the 15th JUly states:
"2.2. The Government has made the decision to close the ILF on 31 March 2015, based on changes to the welfare benefits and social care systems. The DWP has pledged to protect existing service users' care packages until that date. Existing funds will then be transferred to local authorities on a capitation basis. Guidance from the Government indicates that local authorities will be expected to reassess all ILF clients and their level of support. The ILF monies transferred to local authorities are not ringfenced for this purpose."

This means that money coming from central government does not have to be ringfenced specifically for ILF. It was not an HCC decision.

Item 2.3 discusses the problem facing the HCS department:
"2.3. The County Council is under a statutory duty to provide assistance to those who have eligible care needs which cannot be met in another manner. Without this transfer of funding to the County Council, the demand to meet eligible care needs for these disabled people would have to be met from care purchasing budgets. This would cause a significant overspend. An early decision is being sought on this matter to give people who currently receive ILF monies some certainty about their care arrangements going forward when the scheme closes."

The Recommendation of this was that the Members would consider at this meeting the implications and make a decision.

Thus, the Minutes of this meeting record that decision:

"Cabinet agreed that the monies currently allocated to current recipients via the Independent Living Fund be transferred and continue to be used to meet those recipients’ eligible care needs, subject to regular care reviews and appropriate adjustments to care packages.
Any alternative Options considered and rejected"

I hope this aids your better understanding of the matter

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, quoting the reference number on this correspondence. To find out more about Freedom of Information, please visit www.hertsdirect.org/foi

If you are unhappy with the way the County Council has handled your request for information you may request an internal review of the request. This will be carried out by a member of the County Council Legal Services Team, who has had no prior involvement with the request. Requests for an internal review should be sent to the Information Governance Unit at the address above.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the internal review you are entitled to ask the Information Commissioner to investigate your complaint. You should write to: FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution, Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Yours Sincerely

Information Access Team
Postal Point CHN 305
Hertfordshire County Council, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SG13 8DE
t: 01992 555848 Comnet / Internal: 25848
Fax: 01992 588117
Email: [email address]
----------------------------------------------------------
Hertsdirect / Twitter / Facebook
Hertfordshire – County of Opportunity
The Information Access Team supports Hertfordshire County Council's Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations activity.

show quoted sections