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

Our Ref: 9056  

Dear Enquirer,

INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information which will be dealt with under
the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

If you have any queries about this matter please contact us. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Please note, that due to the recent outbreak of Covid-19, there may be a
delay in responding to your request. We appreciate your patience at this
busy period.

Kind regards

Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [email address]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk

Our Ref: 9056   

Dear Enquirer,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST

I refer to your Freedom of Information request in relation to Adult Social
Care and Commissioning.

Right of Access

Section 1(1) of the Act provides any person making a request for
information to a public authority is entitled.

(a) to be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds
information of the description specified in the request (which Section
1(6) of the Act designates as the "duty to confirm or deny"), and

(b) if that is the case, to have that information communicated to him.

The right is to obtain access to the information itself and not to the
document or record which contains it.

The Act creates a general right of access to information held by public
authorities subject to various exemptions.

Northumberland County Council confirms that it holds the information you
have requested, please see the following information in response.
  

 1. How many Individuals is the Local authority acting as appointee for,
please.  There are 676 cases where the DWP have made us the benefit
appointee. 

 2. How many of these individuals (in and out of area) pays adult social
care charges to the Council for non-residential services.  206 of the
clients that we are appointee for currently pay a charge for
non-residential services

3. What Department is responsible for Administering
appointeeship.  Adult Social Care

 4. Which Department is responsible for assessing  Social Care
Charge.  Adult Social Care

5. How many officers in either department carry out overlapping
role with regard to appointeeships and Care Charges.  Appointeeship and
deputyship are the responsibility of a separate team which deals solely
with these responsibilities. Officers in this team are clear about
the need to take decisions on the basis that they are standing in
the person's shoes, and are expected to query any charges which appear to
be potentially incorrect.

 6. How many times has the appointeeship team responded to a consultation
on behalf of individuals or any group of benefit claimants regarding a
change in council’s charging policy, since 2015.  None. Consultations
on this issue have drawn a wide range of responses from service users
and from family members of service users who lack the capacity to
respond themselves, and we have no reason to think that the service
users for whom we act as appointees would, if capacitated, have wished
to put forward views which have not already been clearly expressed by
others.

  7. How many appeals about care charging has the appointeeship team
submitted to the financial assessment  team since 2015.  While the
team would be prepared to make a formal appeal if necessary, in practice
on all occasions since 2015 when there has initially been a dispute
about a charging issue, the team has been able to achieve what it believes
is the right outcome for the person through discussion, without
the need for a formal process.

 8. How many complaints has the appointeeship team submitted regarding
care charges since 2015.  None.  (But see previous.)

 9. How many times has the appointeeship team sought or referred
indivduals they act for, to independent advice (whether third sector,
legal aid or privately funded about care charges, since 2015.  None.

10. How many times has the appointeeship team questioned the accuracy,
fairness of legal validity of individuals care charges or the council
charging policy since 2015.  We don’t hold this information in a
structured form which would enable us to count it, but it is quite
common for the team to question the accuracy of an individual's care
charge – and in our view they have a clearer understanding of the
charging system than many capacitated service users would have, so are
in a position to be able to ensure that errors are identified and
corrected.  The team has also raised issues about the legality of
specific arrangements for individuals receiving after-care under
section 117 of the Mental Health Act, in cases where the boundary
between non-chargeable after-care services and other forms of support
is not clearly defined.

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?  There is
no charge for appointeeships as such.  Where we also hold deputyship
for property and affairs, we make a charge in accordance with Practice
Direction B laid down by the Court (Fixed Costs in the Court of
Protection –remuneration of Public Authority Deputies)

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

13. If appointeeship is not provided for through the care act, does the
council allow for a DRE deduction  from disability benefit income for
appointeeship (assuming  a person is otherwise chargeable).  n/a

14. If the council does not operate appointeeships for adult social care
clients, does the council permit a full DRE from disability benefit
income, for any charges levied by any other corporate or private
appointee (assuming a person it otherwise chargeable)?  n/a

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.  In our view, the role of a public sector appointee does not
include seeking independent legal advice about the lawfulness of the
Council’s charging policy.  The Council is currently awaiting further
legal advice about the Norfolk judgement.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can request an internal review by writing within 2 months
from the date of this response to the Information Governance Office:

Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
NE61 2EF

Email: [email address]

Information Commissioner

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a
right by Section 50 of the Act to apply to the Information Commissioner
for a decision as to whether your request has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113
Email: [email address]

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours faithfully

FOI Coordinator -Adult & Community Care Services
Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [email address]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk