LAs charging policy and Personal Expenses Allowance

The request was successful.

Dear Local Authority,
These questions all relate to persons under age 65 living a residential care home paid for all or in part by your council’s social care budget

1) How many people in your Local Authority under 65 live in a residential care home?

2) How much disposable income/PEA do care home residents have available each week for their needs?

3) Calculation of income

a) How does your residential charging policy calculate income?
b) What is included in your income calculation?
c) What is excluded from your income?
d) Which (if any) parts of the income calculation are discretionary?
e) Which parts of the income calculation are mandatory?
f) Do you use the same calculation model for care home residents above the age of 65 versus those below that age?
g) If the model differs, what are those differences?
4) Discretionary Increases
a) Does the Local Authority exercise its discretion to allow individuals under 65 years in residential care homes more than this minimum amount?
b) If yes, what is the weekly amount available to them and (as in 3 above) how is it calculated?
5) Is there any difference in the amount people are left with each week if the Local Authority is acting as an Appointee?

Yours faithfully,

Anita Bellows

FOI, Wiltshire Council

2 Attachments

Anita Bellows.

 

Freedom of Information Request Case ID 202100319

 

Thank you for your request for information received on 26 May 2021 in
which you asked for the following information:

 

These questions all relate to persons under age 65 living a residential
care home paid for all or in part by your council’s social care budget

1) How many people in your Local Authority under 65 live in a residential
care home?

2) How much disposable income/PEA do care home residents have available
each week for their needs?

3) Calculation of income

a) How does your residential charging policy calculate income?

b) What is included in your income calculation?

c) What is excluded from your income?

d) Which (if any) parts of the income calculation are discretionary?

e) Which parts of the income calculation are mandatory?

f) Do you use the same calculation model for care home residents above the
age of 65 versus those below that age?

g) If the model differs, what are those differences?

4) Discretionary Increases

a) Does the Local Authority exercise its discretion to allow individuals
under 65 years in residential care homes more than this minimum amount?

b) If yes, what is the weekly amount available to them and (as in 3 above)
how is it calculated?

5) Is there any difference in the amount people are left with each week if
the Local Authority is acting as an Appointee?

 

Your request is being processed under the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and you will receive a response within 20 working
days of receipt of your request, meaning you will receive a response on or
before 25 June 2021 .

 

Regards,

 

Kyle.McCormack

Information Governance

Email: [1][email address] | Web: [2]www.wiltshire.gov.uk

 

[3]cid:image008.png@01D445E8.1565CF70

[4]www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wisc

 

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Steven King left an annotation ()

Incredulous that so much of this important information is not openly available for the public to refer to on the Wiltshire Council website !
I have encountered similar difficulties in obtaining information regarding similar matters from Wiltshire Council for some two years now, even my social worker and her manager fail to get the written information I need to refer to - despite being disabled, housebound, pensioner !
It affects me in the same way abuse and neglect does, but the council will not investigate its own wrongdoings.
Good luck with your request,

FOI, Wiltshire Council

Dear Anita Bellows

 

Freedom of Information Request Case ID 202100319

 

Thank you for your request for information received on 26 May 2021, in
which you asked for the following information:

 

How many people in your Local Authority under 65 live in a residential
care home?

How much disposable income/PEA do care home residents have available each
week for their needs?

How does your residential charging policy calculate income?

What is included in your income calculation?

What is excluded from your income?

Which (if any) parts of the income calculation are discretionary?

Which parts of the income calculation are mandatory?

Do you use the same calculation model for care home residents above the
age of 65 versus those below that age?

If the model differs, what are those differences?

Does the Local Authority exercise its discretion to allow individuals
under 65 years in residential care homes more than this minimum amount?

If yes, what is the weekly amount available to them and how is it
calculated?

Is there any difference in the amount people are left with each week if
the Local Authority is acting as an Appointee?

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) the Council is obliged
to:

 

§  Let you know whether we hold the information you have requested

§  Provide you with the requested information, if held, (subject to any
exemptions to disclosure that may apply)

 

I can confirm that the council holds some of the information you
requested, the available information is as follows:

 

1.     How many people in your Local Authority under 65 live in a
residential care home?

 

407 as of 30^th April 2021

 

2) How much disposable income/PEA do care home residents have available
each week for their needs?

As per the Department for Health and Social Care Circular –( DHSC2021) 1-
a Personal Allowance of £ 24.90  is the amount of income a person must
have available, and does have available  on a weekly basis

 

3) Calculation of income –

a) How does your residential charging policy calculate income? –    

The residential Charging Policy does not calculate income- What is
considered Income is defined in the Care Act Annexe C, - Treatment of
income.

 

b) What is included in your income calculation? –

 The income calculation is reflective of all that is considered as income
in Annexe C

 

c) What is excluded from your income? –

     The policy is reflective of all that is excluded, or has a full or
partial disregard applied as per The Care Act Annexe C

 

d) Which (if any) parts of the income calculation are discretionary?

 The Council policy which includes the treatment of income is reflective
of, the The Care Act Annexe C- Treatment of income. All financial
assessments are completed taking a fair and transparent approach, a
discretionary disregard would be considered where a discretion may be
applicable

 

e) Which parts of the income calculation are mandatory?

The Council’s charging policy is compliant with The Care Act Annexe C –
Treatment of income. All income that is considered mandatory within this
Annexe is considered within the Council’s charging Policy and included in
Financial Assessments

 

f) Do you use the same calculation model for care home residents above the
age of 65 versus those below that age?

Yes the same model is used

 

g) If the model differs, what are those differences?

There are no differences

 

4) Discretionary Increases

a) Does the Local Authority exercise its discretion to allow individuals
under 65 years in residential care homes more than this minimum amount?

As per the Council’s charging for care policies a discretion would be
considered on an individual basis and where there is a need for a
discretionary decision  to be considered. A discretion to allow
individuals under the age of 65 to receive more than the minimum Personal
Allowance, as a client group is not currently exercised

 

b) If yes, what is the weekly amount available to them and (as in 3 above)
how is it calculated?

No information held.

 

5) Is there any difference in the amount people are left with each week if
the Local Authority is acting as an Appointee?

 

All Financial Assessments are completed using the same model. The
Information gathering and verification process takes a consistent
approach. The Charging Polices are applied to all Financial Assessment
this includes assessments where the Local Authority is the appointee

 

Information supplied under the Act may be subject to protection under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You may use the information we
have provided in response to your request under the terms of the [1]Open
Government Licence.

If you are dissatisfied with the response to your request you can ask for
a review of the handling of your request for information. Details of the
complaints procedure are below.

Regards,

Kyle McCormack

Information Governance Team

Legal and Governance

Wiltshire Council

[2][Wiltshire Council request email]

Freedom of Information Complaints and Review Procedure

Any person who has requested information from Wiltshire Council which has
been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act is entitled to make a
complaint and request an internal review of the handling of their request
if they are dissatisfied with the response they have received.

Requests for review of a Freedom of Information requests should be made,
in writing, which includes email, to:

Freedom of Information and Records Lead

Information Governance Team

Legal and Governance

Wiltshire Council

[3][Wiltshire Council request email]

Please include the Case ID number, the date of your request and details of
why you are asking for a review.  Requests for a review should be brought
to our attention within 40 calendar days of our response to your request.

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independent of the original decision. The person conducting the review
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review within 20 working days. In more complex cases the review may take
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The reviewer will conduct a full review of the handling of the request for
information and the decisions taken, including decisions taken about where
the public interest lies in respect of exempt information where
applicable. The review enables a re-evaluation of the case taking into
account any matters raised by the requester.

On completion of the review the reviewer will contact the requester with
the result of the review. If the requester is still dissatisfied with the
council's handling of their request they should contact the Information
Commissioners Office (ICO). The ICO can be contacted using the following
details:

Information Commissioners Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Tel; 0303 123 1113 (local rate)

       01625 545 745 (national rate)

Email; [4][email address]

 

 

From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: 27 May 2021 08:38
To: Anita Bellows <[FOI #759831 email]>
Subject: FOI Case ID 202100319 - LAs charging policy and Personal Expenses
Allowance

 

Anita Bellows.

 

Freedom of Information Request Case ID 202100319

 

Thank you for your request for information received on 26 May 2021 in
which you asked for the following information:

 

These questions all relate to persons under age 65 living a residential
care home paid for all or in part by your council’s social care budget

1) How many people in your Local Authority under 65 live in a residential
care home?

2) How much disposable income/PEA do care home residents have available
each week for their needs?

3) Calculation of income

a) How does your residential charging policy calculate income?

b) What is included in your income calculation?

c) What is excluded from your income?

d) Which (if any) parts of the income calculation are discretionary?

e) Which parts of the income calculation are mandatory?

f) Do you use the same calculation model for care home residents above the
age of 65 versus those below that age?

g) If the model differs, what are those differences?

4) Discretionary Increases

a) Does the Local Authority exercise its discretion to allow individuals
under 65 years in residential care homes more than this minimum amount?

b) If yes, what is the weekly amount available to them and (as in 3 above)
how is it calculated?

5) Is there any difference in the amount people are left with each week if
the Local Authority is acting as an Appointee?

 

Your request is being processed under the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and you will receive a response within 20 working
days of receipt of your request, meaning you will receive a response on or
before 25 June 2021 .

 

Regards,

 

Kyle.McCormack

Information Governance

Email: [5][email address] | Web: [6]www.wiltshire.gov.uk

 

[7]www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wisc

 

show quoted sections