Data of how direct payments are being used by users

Thank you for your recent FOI / EIR request. Please find attached an acknowledgement for this request.
##################################################################################### Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau sy'n atodol yn gyfrinachol a dim ond ar gyfer defnydd yr unigolyn neu'r sefydliad y cyfeiriwyd atynt. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn ar gam rhowch wybod i reolwr eich system. Nodwch fod unrhyw sylwadau neu farn o fewn testun yr e-bost yw sylwadau a barn yr awdur yn unig ac nid yn angenrheidiol yn cynrychioli barn Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili. I orffen, dylai'r person sy'n derbyn yr e-bost sicrhau nad oes firws ynghlwm nac mewn unrhyw ddogfen atodol i'r e-bost. Nid yw'r Cyngor yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am unrhyw ddifrod achoswyd gan unrhyw firws sy'n cael ei drosglwyddo gan yr e-bost hwn. Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu'n ddwyieithog (yn unol â'ch dewis), ac mewn ieithoedd a fformatau eraill. Cewch ymateb yn unol â'ch dewis iaith os nodwch hynny i ni, ac ni fydd cyfathrebu â ni yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. 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. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Caerphilly County Borough Council. Finally, the recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The Council accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. We welcome correspondence in English, Welsh or bilingually (according to your choice) or in other languages and formats. We will respond in your declared chosen language, and corresponding with us in Welsh will not lead to any delay. #####################################################################################

Thank you for your recent FOI / EIR request. Please find attached an acknowledgement for this request.
##################################################################################### Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau sy'n atodol yn gyfrinachol a dim ond ar gyfer defnydd yr unigolyn neu'r sefydliad y cyfeiriwyd atynt. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn ar gam rhowch wybod i reolwr eich system. Nodwch fod unrhyw sylwadau neu farn o fewn testun yr e-bost yw sylwadau a barn yr awdur yn unig ac nid yn angenrheidiol yn cynrychioli barn Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili. I orffen, dylai'r person sy'n derbyn yr e-bost sicrhau nad oes firws ynghlwm nac mewn unrhyw ddogfen atodol i'r e-bost. Nid yw'r Cyngor yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am unrhyw ddifrod achoswyd gan unrhyw firws sy'n cael ei drosglwyddo gan yr e-bost hwn. Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu'n ddwyieithog (yn unol â'ch dewis), ac mewn ieithoedd a fformatau eraill. Cewch ymateb yn unol â'ch dewis iaith os nodwch hynny i ni, ac ni fydd cyfathrebu â ni yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. 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. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Caerphilly County Borough Council. Finally, the recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The Council accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. We welcome correspondence in English, Welsh or bilingually (according to your choice) or in other languages and formats. We will respond in your declared chosen language, and corresponding with us in Welsh will not lead to any delay. #####################################################################################

Dear [name removed],

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information received on the 26^th May 2023.
We have considered your request and enclose a partial response:

To compliment the core request (23/0705), could you kindly –

1. Send me your direct payments policy including your practice guidance
for practitioners

Please find the CCBC Direct Payments Policy attached.

2. Could you also send me your Care and Support Planning Policy along with
your practice guidance for Practitioners

All CCBC practitioners work to the Social Services and Well-Being act
(Wales) 2014, and the Code of Practices are in the public domain and can
be found on the Social Care Wales websites. For ease of reference, the
information can be accessed via the following link:

[1]https://socialcare.wales/dealing-with-co...

Under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we are not
required to provide information in response to a request if it is already
reasonably accessible. Therefore, in respect of the Freedom of Information
Act, this letter constitutes a formal refusal notice under Section 17.

3. Please send any other policies you feel are relevant or related to the
policies and practice guidance documents requested above.

Not applicable.

We supply this information based on your original request. If this is not
what you wanted or if you feel we have not fully understood your request,
please do not hesitate to contact me to clarify your exact requirements.

If you have any queries or concerns or are in any way dissatisfied with
the handling of your request, please contact [2][Caerphilly County Borough
Council request email].

Yours sincerely

Uned Llywodraethu Gwybodaeth Gorfforaethol | Corporate Information
Governance Unit

Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili | Caerphilly County Borough Council

Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations
2004

You have the right to appeal against our decision

If you wish to appeal please set out If you are unhappy with that decision
in writing your grounds of appeal you have the right to appeal to:
and send to:
Information Commissioner’s Office –
Corporate Information Governance Wales
Unit 2nd Floor, Churchill House
Caerphilly County Borough Council, Churchill Way
Penallta House Cardiff CF10 2HH
Tredomen Park
Hengoed. CF82 7PG Tel: 0330 414 6421

Appeals will be determined by an Website: [3]www.ico.org.uk
appropriate senior officer.
Email: [4][email address]

Re-use of information without permission may infringe the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988. Re-use can include, but is not limited to,
making multiple copies, publishing and issuing copies of the information
to a wider audience. If you would like to re-use copyright material owned
by Caerphilly County Borough Council, please contact us. Authorisation to
re-use copyright material not owned by this Authority should be sought
directly from the copyright owner.

How we will use your information

Caerphilly County Borough Council will process your request, the
information relevant to your request, your identity and contact details
for the purposes of providing you with a response.  A copy of your request
and your response will be kept for 3 years.  Some requests and responses
may be kept longer but this will be in an anonymised form.  

Your request including your identity and contact details will be
distributed to relevant service areas and elected members who may either
hold the information you have requested or are involved in the processing
of requests.  Other organisations and individuals who may be affected by
the disclosure of the information you have requested may be consulted
prior to a decision being made on the disclosure.

If you have made a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
or others in relation to the processing of your request, copies of your
request, response and any additional correspondence between you and
Caerphilly County Borough Council in relevant to your request may be
shared with them.

You have a number of rights in relation to your information including the
right of access to information we hold about you and the right of
complaint if you are unhappy with the way that we have handled your
request or your information.

For further information on how we process your information and your rights
please click the following link:

[5]https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/Caerphilly...

show quoted sections

Dear [name removed],

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information received on the 16^th May 2023.

We can confirm that the Council holds information falling within the
description specified in your request, but we are refusing to supply this
information under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the
appropriate limit of £450 for local government, which is specified in the
Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees)
Regulations 2004. Therefore, we are refusing to supply this information
under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In order to determine whether your request exceeds this limit, we must
multiply an estimate of the time we expect to take to comply with your
request by £25 per hour.  If the cost of complying with your request would
exceed the appropriate limit of £450 (more than 18 hours), we can refuse
your request.  In making this calculation we are able to include the time
taken to determine whether we hold the information and time taken to
locate, retrieve and extract the information.  The hourly rate of £25 per
hour is set by the Fees Regulations and is not dependent on the seniority
of the officer who carries out the work.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, we a have a duty to provide advice
and assistance to help you narrow, reform or refocus your request so that
the cost of complying with it falls below the appropriate limit of £450. 
Unfortunately, on this occasion, as the information requires the
examination of more than 250 cases with 1200 records for each year to
extract the information requested, we are unable provide the detail
requested without exceeding the appropriate fees limit.

If you have any queries or concerns or are in any way dissatisfied with
the handling of your request please contact us.

Yours sincerely

CORPORATE INFORMATION GOVERNANCE UNIT

Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations
2004

You have the right to appeal against our decision.
If you wish to appeal please set out If you are unhappy with that decision
in writing your grounds of appeal you have the right to appeal to:
and send to:
Information Commissioner’s Office –
Information Unit Wales
Caerphilly county borough council, 2nd Floor, Churchill House
Penallta House Churchill Way
Tredomen Park Cardiff CF10 2HH
Hengoed. CF82 7PG
Telephone: 0330 414 6421 
Appeals will be determined by an
appropriate senior officer. Website: [1]www.ico.org.uk

Email: [2][email address]

Re-use of information without permission may infringe the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988. Re-use can include, but is not limited to,
making multiple copies, publishing and issuing copies of the information
to a wider audience. If you would like to re-use copyright material owned
by Caerphilly County Borough Council, please contact us. Authorisation to
re-use copyright material not owned by this Authority should be sought
directly from the copyright owner.

How we will use your information

Caerphilly County Borough Council will process your request, the
information relevant to your request, your identity and contact details
for the purposes of providing you with a response.  A copy of your request
and your response will be kept for 3 years.  Some requests and responses
may be kept longer but this will be in an anonymised form.  

Your request including your identity and contact details will be
distributed to relevant service areas and elected members who may either
hold the information you have requested or are involved in the processing
of requests.  Other organisations and individuals who may be affected by
the disclosure of the information you have requested may be consulted
prior to a decision being made on the disclosure.

If you have made a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
or others in relation to the processing of your request, copies of your
request, response and any additional correspondence between you and
Caerphilly County Borough Council in relevant to your request may be
shared with them.

You have a number of rights in relation to your information including the
right of access to information we hold about you and the right of
complaint if you are unhappy with the way that we have handled your
request or your information.

For further information on how we process your information and your rights
please click the following link:

[3]https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/Caerphilly...

show quoted sections

Dear [name removed],

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information received on the 7^thJune 2023.

We can confirm that the Council holds information falling within the
description specified in your request, even though the timeframe is
reduced from the original request we are refusing to supply this
information under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the
appropriate limit of £450 for local government, which is specified in the
Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees)
Regulations 2004. Therefore, we are refusing to supply this information
under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In order to determine whether your request exceeds this limit, we must
multiply an estimate of the time we expect to take to comply with your
request by £25 per hour.  If the cost of complying with your request would
exceed the appropriate limit of £450 (more than 18 hours), we can refuse
your request.  In making this calculation we are able to include the time
taken to determine whether we hold the information and time taken to
locate, retrieve and extract the information.  The hourly rate of £25 per
hour is set by the Fees Regulations and is not dependent on the seniority
of the officer who carries out the work.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, we a have a duty to provide advice
and assistance to help you narrow, reform or refocus your request so that
the cost of complying with it falls below the appropriate limit of £450. 
Unfortunately, even though the timeframe is reduced from the original
request, the information still requires the examination of more than 250
cases with 1200 records for each year to extract the information
requested, therefore we are unable provide the detail requested without
exceeding the appropriate fees limit.

If you have any queries or concerns or are in any way dissatisfied with
the handling of your request please contact us.

Yours sincerely

CORPORATE INFORMATION GOVERNANCE UNIT

Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations
2004

You have the right to appeal against our decision.
If you wish to appeal please set out If you are unhappy with that decision
in writing your grounds of appeal you have the right to appeal to:
and send to:
 
Information Unit
Caerphilly county borough council, Information Commissioner’s Office –
Penallta House Wales
Tredomen Park 2nd Floor, Churchill House
Hengoed. CF82 7PG Churchill Way
Cardiff CF10 2HH
 
 
Appeals will be determined by an
appropriate senior officer. Telephone: 0330 414 6421 

Website: [1]www.ico.org.uk

Email: [2][email address]

Re-use of information without permission may infringe the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988. Re-use can include, but is not limited to,
making multiple copies, publishing and issuing copies of the information
to a wider audience. If you would like to re-use copyright material owned
by Caerphilly County Borough Council, please contact us. Authorisation to
re-use copyright material not owned by this Authority should be sought
directly from the copyright owner.

How we will use your information

Caerphilly County Borough Council will process your request, the
information relevant to your request, your identity and contact details
for the purposes of providing you with a response.  A copy of your request
and your response will be kept for 3 years.  Some requests and responses
may be kept longer but this will be in an anonymised form.  

Your request including your identity and contact details will be
distributed to relevant service areas and elected members who may either
hold the information you have requested or are involved in the processing
of requests.  Other organisations and individuals who may be affected by
the disclosure of the information you have requested may be consulted
prior to a decision being made on the disclosure.

If you have made a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
or others in relation to the processing of your request, copies of your
request, response and any additional correspondence between you and
Caerphilly County Borough Council in relevant to your request may be
shared with them.

You have a number of rights in relation to your information including the
right of access to information we hold about you and the right of
complaint if you are unhappy with the way that we have handled your
request or your information.

For further information on how we process your information and your rights
please click the following link:

[3]https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/Caerphilly...

show quoted sections

Dear [name removed]

Thank-you for your email received on 7th June.

Unfortunately, due to the manner in which our records are held, the refinement of a time period would exceed the Appropriate Limit.

We are unable to answer your request as all continued cases that have been in receipt of Direct Payment would need be examined. The information requested is not recorded separately as it is not required to be recorded for our purposes. Each case file will would need to be reviewed to extract the purpose of each Direct Payment.

If you have any queries or concerns or are in any way dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact us.

Yours sincerely

CORPORATE INFORMATION GOVERNANCE UNIT

##################################################################################### Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau sy'n atodol yn gyfrinachol a dim ond ar gyfer defnydd yr unigolyn neu'r sefydliad y cyfeiriwyd atynt. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn ar gam rhowch wybod i reolwr eich system. Nodwch fod unrhyw sylwadau neu farn o fewn testun yr e-bost yw sylwadau a barn yr awdur yn unig ac nid yn angenrheidiol yn cynrychioli barn Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili. I orffen, dylai'r person sy'n derbyn yr e-bost sicrhau nad oes firws ynghlwm nac mewn unrhyw ddogfen atodol i'r e-bost. Nid yw'r Cyngor yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am unrhyw ddifrod achoswyd gan unrhyw firws sy'n cael ei drosglwyddo gan yr e-bost hwn. Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu'n ddwyieithog (yn unol â'ch dewis), ac mewn ieithoedd a fformatau eraill. Cewch ymateb yn unol â'ch dewis iaith os nodwch hynny i ni, ac ni fydd cyfathrebu â ni yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. 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. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Caerphilly County Borough Council. Finally, the recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The Council accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. We welcome correspondence in English, Welsh or bilingually (according to your choice) or in other languages and formats. We will respond in your declared chosen language, and corresponding with us in Welsh will not lead to any delay. #####################################################################################

Thank you for your recent FOI / EIR request. Please find attached an acknowledgement for this request.
##################################################################################### Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau sy'n atodol yn gyfrinachol a dim ond ar gyfer defnydd yr unigolyn neu'r sefydliad y cyfeiriwyd atynt. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn ar gam rhowch wybod i reolwr eich system. Nodwch fod unrhyw sylwadau neu farn o fewn testun yr e-bost yw sylwadau a barn yr awdur yn unig ac nid yn angenrheidiol yn cynrychioli barn Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili. I orffen, dylai'r person sy'n derbyn yr e-bost sicrhau nad oes firws ynghlwm nac mewn unrhyw ddogfen atodol i'r e-bost. Nid yw'r Cyngor yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am unrhyw ddifrod achoswyd gan unrhyw firws sy'n cael ei drosglwyddo gan yr e-bost hwn. Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu'n ddwyieithog (yn unol â'ch dewis), ac mewn ieithoedd a fformatau eraill. Cewch ymateb yn unol â'ch dewis iaith os nodwch hynny i ni, ac ni fydd cyfathrebu â ni yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. 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. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Caerphilly County Borough Council. Finally, the recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The Council accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. We welcome correspondence in English, Welsh or bilingually (according to your choice) or in other languages and formats. We will respond in your declared chosen language, and corresponding with us in Welsh will not lead to any delay. #####################################################################################

Dear [name removed],

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information received on the 23^rd June
2023. We have considered your request and enclose the following
information -

 1. Could you kindly provide ALL of your policies related to direct
payments (particularly those which serve as practice guidance for
practitioners).

Please find the CCBC Direct Payments Policy attached.

 2. Could you also provide your policies and practice guidance documents
which govern how "Care and Support Plans" must be developed. Again,
particularly those which serve as practice guidance for practitioners.

All CCBC practitioners work to the Social Services and Well-Being act
(Wales) 2014, and the Code of Practices are in the public domain and can
be found on the Social Care Wales websites.

For ease of reference, the information can be accessed via the following
links:

[1]https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/file...

[2]https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/file...

 3. Could you also provide your policies/documents and any practice
guidance documents regarding home care charges and how this
calculation is determined and allocated in the context of direct
payments. For example, how do you calculate the cost of providing
meals to a person who is unable to shop for, prepare or cook their
meals and how would this cost be equated in the form of a direct
payment.

The policy documents regarding Home care charges are not publicly
available.

Home care charges are worked out following the Social Work assessments and
the care plan advises how many hours the person is eligible for. They
advise the Direct Payment team and they set up the Direct Payment using a
flat hourly rate depending on whether they choose to use Personal
Assistant or Agency, to provide the support. The financial assessment is
completed in line with fairer charging policy and is done via the Finance
department.

 4. With the above policies and documents in mind, please also provide any
other policies or practice guidance documents you feel are either
pivotal or complementary to understanding the above policies and
practice guidance documents.

There are no other policy documents available.  

We supply this information based on your original request. If this is not
what you wanted or if you feel we have not fully understood your request,
please do not hesitate to contact me to clarify your exact requirements.

If you have any queries or concerns or are in any way dissatisfied with
the handling of your request, please contact [3][Caerphilly County Borough
Council request email].

Yours sincerely

Uned Llywodraethu Gwybodaeth Gorfforaethol | Corporate Information
Governance Unit

Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili | Caerphilly County Borough Council

Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations
2004

You have the right to appeal against our decision.

If you wish to appeal please set out If you are unhappy with that decision
in writing your grounds of appeal you have the right to appeal to:
and send to:
Information Commissioner’s Office –
Corporate Information Governance Wales
Unit 2nd Floor, Churchill House
Caerphilly County Borough Council, Churchill Way
Penallta House Cardiff CF10 2HH
Tredomen Park
Hengoed. CF82 7PG Tel: 0330 414 6421

Appeals will be determined by an Website: [4]www.ico.org.uk
appropriate senior officer.
Email: [5][email address]

Re-use of information without permission may infringe the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988. Re-use can include, but is not limited to,
making multiple copies, publishing and issuing copies of the information
to a wider audience. If you would like to re-use copyright material owned
by Caerphilly County Borough Council, please contact us. Authorisation to
re-use copyright material not owned by this Authority should be sought
directly from the copyright owner.

How we will use your information

Caerphilly County Borough Council will process your request, the
information relevant to your request, your identity and contact details
for the purposes of providing you with a response.  A copy of your request
and your response will be kept for 3 years.  Some requests and responses
may be kept longer but this will be in an anonymised form.  

Your request including your identity and contact details will be
distributed to relevant service areas and elected members who may either
hold the information you have requested or are involved in the processing
of requests.  Other organisations and individuals who may be affected by
the disclosure of the information you have requested may be consulted
prior to a decision being made on the disclosure.

If you have made a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
or others in relation to the processing of your request, copies of your
request, response and any additional correspondence between you and
Caerphilly County Borough Council in relevant to your request may be
shared with them.

You have a number of rights in relation to your information including the
right of access to information we hold about you and the right of
complaint if you are unhappy with the way that we have handled your
request or your information.

For further information on how we process your information and your rights
please click the following link:

[6]https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/Caerphilly...

show quoted sections