Conflict of Interest in relation to Client Finance/Appointeeship and the possibility that social care charges are unlawful
Dear Greenwich 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 Ms Schwehr,
Freedom of Information request: FOI-49633
Thank you for your request dated 21 March 2021
Your request is due to be answered by 21 April 2021, however, please note
that your request for information may be delayed due to urgent operational
responses to dealing with Covid-19 priorities. We apologise for any
inconvenience this may cause, we do remain committed to responding to your
request and will respond as soon as we are able to do so.
If you have any queries about this request, please contact me, quoting the
reference number above.
Yours sincerely,
David White
Head of Compliance
Directorate of Communities and Environment
Royal Borough of Greenwich
* 3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ
ü Please consider the environment before printing this email
Dear Ms Schwehr,
Freedom of Information request: FOI-49633
Thank you for your request dated 21 March 2021
Our response is as follows:
If you have any queries about this correspondence, please contact me,
quoting the reference number above.
If you are not satisfied with our response to your request, you can ask
for an Internal Review. Internal review requests must be submitted within
two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original
request. If you wish to do this, please contact us in writing, setting
out why you are dissatisfied.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the Internal Review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
Internal Review procedure provided by the Council. You can contact the ICO
by emailing [1][email address], or by post at Customer Contact,
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
David White
Head of Compliance
Directorate of Communities and Environment
Royal Borough of Greenwich
* 3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ
ü Please consider the environment before printing this email
From: foi
Sent: 23 March 2021 14:30
To: 'CASCAIDr' <[FOI #738807 email]>
Cc: foi <[Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Subject: FOI-49633: Freedom of Information request - Conflict of Interest
in relation to Client Finance/Appointeeship and the possibility that
social care charges are unlawful
Dear Ms Schwehr,
Freedom of Information request: FOI-49633
Thank you for your request dated 21 March 2021
Your request is due to be answered by 21 April 2021, however, please note
that your request for information may be delayed due to urgent operational
responses to dealing with Covid-19 priorities. We apologise for any
inconvenience this may cause, we do remain committed to responding to your
request and will respond as soon as we are able to do so.
If you have any queries about this request, please contact me, quoting the
reference number above.
Yours sincerely,
David White
Head of Compliance
Directorate of Communities and Environment
Royal Borough of Greenwich
* 3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ
ü Please consider the environment before printing this email
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