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

The request was successful.

Dear Kingston upon Thames 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

RBK FOI, Kingston upon Thames Borough Council

Dear Sir/Madam
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST - REF NO -
FOIK306 (please quote in correspondence)
I acknowledge your request for information received on 22/03/2021
Your request is being considered and, if it is held, you will receive the
information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as
defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information
not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.
If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font
size.  If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio, large
print, etc. then please let us know.
For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent release of the information you have requested.  There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the
information will not be released.  You will be informed if this is the
case, including your rights of appeal.
If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to
release the information to you.  You will be informed if this is the case.
A fee may be payable for this information.  This will be considered and
you will be informed if a fee is payable.  In this event the fee must be
paid before the information is processed and released.  The 20 working day
time limit is suspended until receipt of the payment.
Please be advised that in line with the Royal Borough of Kingston's
commitment to transparency, in due course an anonymous copy of your
request and our response may be published on our website.
Yours sincerely,

FOI Team

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
London Borough of Sutton
[1]www.kingston.gov.uk
[2]www.sutton.gov.uk

show quoted sections

John Smyth,

Dear Ms Schwehr

 

I refer to your request for information received on 22 March 2021
concerning potential Conflict of Interest in relation to Client
Finance/Appointeeship and I am able to respond to your questions as
follows

 

  1. How many individuals is the local authority acting as an appointee
for, please?   158 

2. How many of these individuals (in area or out of area) pays adult
social care charges to the council for non-residential services?  27 

3. Which department is responsible for administering appointeeship?   
  Shared Finance Service   for  the Royal Borough of Kingston and London
Borough of Sutton  
4. Which department is responsible for assessing social care charges? 
 Shared Finance Service   for  the Royal Borough of Kingston and London
Borough of Sutton 
5. How many officers in either department carry out an overlapping role
with regard to appointeeship and care charges?  0

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?  Not recorded 
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?  No - the
council does not charge for this service
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 Benefits income, for the
charge it makes for appointeeship (assuming a person is otherwise
chargeable)?  Yes 

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 

 

Appointees are appointed by the Department for Works & Pension (DWP) and
not the local authority. Appointees, corporate or individuals, are
required to act on behalf of the named person and to exercise any rights
which they have under social security legislation, Veterans UK or the
Board of HM Revenue & Customs. Appointees become fully responsible for
acting on the customer’s behalf in all the customer’s dealings with the
DWP – they stand in the shoes of the claimant. They receive and
administer, pursuant to the DWP conditions and guidance, any money which
may be due to the person. The obligation to administer payments, in the
customer’s and their dependant’s best interest is a key condition of the
appointment.  Please see the following link for additional information and
guidance from the DWP on  Appointeeship and address any request relating
to the appointment of local authorities as corporate appointees to the
DWP 

 

 

If you are unhappy with the way in which your request has been handled you
have the right to ask for an internal review.  Please notify us in writing
as soon as possible with the grounds upon which you feel the appeal is
justified to : [1][Kingston upon Thames Borough Council request email] or by post to Customer Care,
Guildhall 2, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 1EU

We aim to respond to you within 20 working days of receiving your request.
If it is going to take longer we will let you know.

 

Should you still be dissatisfied with the outcome you have the right to
refer to the Information Commissioner: Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF [2]www.ico.org.uk

John Smyth
Financial Inclusion Manager 
Resources Directorate (Shared Finance Service for Sutton and Kingston)
London Borough of Sutton & Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Tel [mobile number]  
Tel: 020 8547 4758
e-mail: [3][email address]

RBK Website: [4]www.kingston.gov.uk

LBS Website: [5]www.sutton.gov.uk

 

Disclaimers apply, for full details see : 
(https://www.sutton.gov.uk/info/200436/cu...)

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Kingston upon Thames Borough Council request email]
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.kingston.gov.uk/
5. http://www.sutton.gov.uk/