Conflict of Interest in relation to Client Finance/Appointeeship and the possibility that social care charges are unlawful
Dear Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council,
To whom it may concern
1. How many individuals is the local authority acting as an appointee for, please?
2. How many of these individuals (in area or out of area) pays adult social care charges to the council for non-residential services?
3. Which department is responsible for administering appointeeship?
4. Which department is responsible for assessing social care charges?
5. How many officers in either department carry out an overlapping role with regard to appointeeship and care charges?
6. How many times has the appointeeship team responded to a consultation on behalf of individuals or any group of benefits claimants regarding a change in the council’s charging policy, since 2015?
7. How many appeals about care charges has the appointeeship team submitted to the financial assessment team since 2015?
8. How many complaints has the appointeeship team submitted regarding care charges since 2015?
9. How many times has the appointeeship team sought or referred individuals they act for, to independent advice (whether third sector, legal aid or privately funded) about care charges, since 2015?
10. How many times has the appointeeship team questioned the accuracy, fairness or legal validity of individuals’ care charges or the council’s charging policy, since 2015?
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?
12. How much does it charge, if it makes a charge, per month or per week or per year, please?
13. If appointeeship is not provided for through the Care Act, does the council allow for a DRE deduction from Disability Benefits income, for the charge it makes for appointeeship (assuming a person is otherwise chargeable)?
14. If the council does not operate appointeeships for adult social care clients, does the council permit a full DRE deduction from Disability Benefits income, for any charge levied by any other corporate or private appointee (assuming a person is otherwise chargeable)?
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.
Regards
Belinda Schwehr, CEO, CASCAIDr. www.CASCAIDr.org.uk
Dear Belinda Schwehr
Further to your recent Freedom of Information request, we are aware that
the date for responding to your enquiry has passed and we apologise that
we have not been able to provide a response.
We are currently experiencing a high volume of FOI requests , coupled with
ongoing statutory duties that have stretched our current resources. We
are working upon a response to your request as soon as possible but would
be grateful if you would allow us additional time to do so.
We would anticipate being in a position to respond within 10 working days,
by 19 May 2021, and trust this is agreeable. Thank you for your patience
and understanding.
Yours sincerely
Lynette Paterson
Principal Information Management Officer
Wirral Council
PO Box 290
Brighton Street
Wallasey
CH27 9FQ
Email: [1][email address]
Visit our website: [2]www.wirral.gov.uk
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.
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2. http://www.wirral.gov.uk/
Dear Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Conflict of Interest in relation to Client Finance/Appointeeship and the possibility that social care charges are unlawful'.
I note that you have not confirmed or denied whether the authority holds this information, and have not applied an exemption that would remove this obligation.
As you may be aware, Section 1(1) of the FOI Act (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/200...) states that "Any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled to be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds information of the description specified in the request".
I would be grateful if you could clarify whether or not this information is held, or specify which exemption of the duty to confirm or deny you are applying.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
CASCAIDr
Dear Ms Schwehr
We write further to your recent FOI request and subsequent correspondence
of 21 June 2021 in which you sought an internal review of the Council’s
failure to respond within 20 working days. Please accept our apologies
for the delay in providing the requested information, we have been dealing
with a very high volume of requests and unfortunately it has taken longer
than anticipated to deal with your enquiry. Please now see below Wirral
Council’s response to your original questions:
1. How many individuals is the local authority acting as an appointee for,
please? - 221
2. How many of these individuals (in area or out of area) pays adult
social care charges to the council for non-residential services?
114 individuals have been financially assessed to pay a contribution for
non residential services
3. Which department is responsible for administering appointeeship?
Resources – Client Finance Support Team
4. Which department is responsible for assessing social care charges?
Resources – Personal Finance Unit
5. How many officers in either department carry out an overlapping role
with regard to appointeeship and care charges?
None, these are two distinct roles so as not to provide a conflict of
interest.
6. How many times has the appointeeship team responded to a consultation
on behalf of individuals or any group of benefits claimants regarding a
change in the council’s charging policy, since 2015? - 0
7. How many appeals about care charges has the appointeeship team
submitted to the financial assessment team since 2015? - 0
8. How many complaints has the appointeeship team submitted regarding care
charges since 2015? - 0
9. How many times has the appointeeship team sought or referred
individuals they act for, to independent advice (whether third sector,
legal aid or privately funded) about care charges, since 2015? - 0
10. How many times has the appointeeship team questioned the accuracy,
fairness or legal validity of individuals’ care charges or the council’s
charging policy, since 2015?
The team question the charges for accuracy against income but has not
questioned the policy.
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?
The council does not currently charge for providing an appointeeship
service.
12. How much does it charge, if it makes a charge, per month or per week
or per year, please? - 0
13. If appointeeship is not provided for through the Care Act, does the
council allow for a DRE deduction from Disability Benefits income, for the
charge it makes for appointeeship (assuming a person is otherwise
chargeable)?
Council Policy allows for a charge of £5 per week to be applied for the
role of Appointeeship. This charge is currently not applied.
14. If the council does not operate appointeeships for adult social care
clients, does the council permit a full DRE deduction from Disability
Benefits income, for any charge levied by any other corporate or private
appointee (assuming a person is 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.
We are reviewing the policy in light of the Norfolk decision and that
process has not been concluded.
If, upon review of the Council’s response, you remain dissatisfied, you
are entitled to request a further internal review in relation to the
information we have now disclosed under Section 17 of the FOI Act. This
should be addressed to: [1][email address]. If you were still unhappy
with the outcome, you then have the right to complain to the Information
Commissioner, whose contact details can be found at [2]www.ico.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Lynette Paterson
Principal Information Management Officer
Wirral Council
PO Box 290
Brighton Street
Wallasey
CH27 9FQ
Email: [3][email address]
Visit our website: [4]www.wirral.gov.uk
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email%20address]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email%20address]
4. http://www.wirral.gov.uk/
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