Removal of Carers Budgets

The request was partially successful.

Dear Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council,

Some carers have been spending their carers allowance to pay for cover so that the cared for person can be looked after while the carer can have a break. This has been done with the agreement of the Council, through agreed support plans Plans and following an assessment of the carers needs.
Officers have now implemented a change in policy which means that cover can only be paid for from the cared for persons personal budget.

I would like to know
1) The date of the implementation of this change.
2)How many carers have had all or part of their carers budget removed from them since the date of implimentation, on the grounds that they have been using the budget to pay for care.
3) How many carers will in total, have all or part of their budget removed on these grounds. I am assuming here that this will happen as annual reviews take place and therefore over a full year all carers in this position will be affected.
3) Of the number at point 2) above, how many of these sums of money removed have been moved across to the cared for persons budget. This figure to be broken down into two categories of full and part. So for example if a carer has had £1000 per annum removed and this has transferred to the cared for persons budget that means that the full amount has been transferred. If only £ 500 has been transferred then that would show that only part of the budget had been transferred across to the cared for person.
4) Clearly where the carers budget has been used to pay for care in an agreed budget, then the need for that care has been proved and therefore it would be surprising if only part of the budget has been transferred to the cared for persons budget. So if there are any sums where only part has been transferred across to the cared for person at point 3), then please state what the reasons are, in general terms and respecting confidentiality (e.g need for care has reduced).

Yours faithfully,
J Maskell

InfoMgr, FinDMT, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your enquiry below.  This information is not held by the
Council, but you may be able to obtain it from The Department of Work and
Pensions.

[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...

 

 Kind Regards

Jane Corrin

Information Manager

Wirral Council

 

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Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,
You are referring to Carers Allowance (with capital letters, a proper name) which is Department of Work and Pensions. However this is not what I asked.
I am referring to the carers budgets which are paid by the Council as personal budgets or direct payments. These are still carers allowances but in the general, lower case way.
As my original question is quite clearly only the responsibility of the Council can you please reply as originally requested.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

Corrin, Jane, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

 

Good Morning,

Thank you for your enquiry.  Please see detail below as our reply and I
hope the information is useful to you.

 

This proposed change to Carer’s Budgets has not been implemented yet and
won’t be until agreed by Council on 5th March 2013.   Pete Gosling, 
Principal Manager would be happy to come to the Carer’s Development
Committee to talk through the proposed process once the Council have
determined which of the budget options they require to be implemented.

 

Sent on behalf of Tracy O'Hare

FOI Co-ordinator

Information Management

Wallasey Town Hall

Brighton Street

Wirral

CH44 8ED

 

[Wirral Borough Council request email]

 

 

 

This information supplied to you is copyrighted and continues to be
protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.   You are free
to use it for your own purposes, including any non commercial research you
are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for
example commercial publication, would require our specific permission, may
involve licensing and the application of a charge

 

 

 

 

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Dear Corrin, Jane,

I am aware that the budget option relating to carers budgets for 2013/14 has not been implimented yet. That is in the future and may or may not happen. My questions still stand as I am asking about the current position so could my original questions be answered. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

Dear Corrin, Jane,

Hello, an answer to my request is now overdue. Can you give me an indication of why there is a delay and when I can expect an answer.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

Dear Corrin, Jane,

As I have had no response to either my original request or my request for an indication of when I might expect a reply, I am now requesting an internal review.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

InfoMgr, FinDMT, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information Act enquiry and apologies for
the delay in responding. Council’s response is below and I trust this
information is of assistance.         

 

Kind Regards

Jane Corrin

Information Manager

Wirral Council

     

This information supplied to you is copyrighted and continues to be
protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.   You are free
to use it for your own purposes, including any non commercial research you
are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for
example commercial publication, would require our specific permission, may
involve licensing and the application of a charge

sincerely

 

 

Response
We have identified that some services for individuals requiring support
have been badged against the carer's budget. The Carers & Disabled
Children Act 2000 (section 2 (3) (b)) and the associated policy guidance
(section 26) clearly states that personal care to the individual requiring
support cannot be included in the support to the carer (even though the
effect of these services may be beneficial to the carer).

Therefore we have had to change our practice in this regard to ensure that
we are complying with the Act. What this means in effect is that where
services to the individual requiring support have been included in the
carer's budget, they will, subject to the outcome of a review, be moved to
the individual's own support plan funded through their Individual Budget.
Until we have conducted reviews of all those currently in receipt of a
carer's budget, it is not possible to be definitive about how many carers
will be affected. Issues arising from individual reviews will be discussed
with individuals and their carers.

Some carers have been spending their carers allowance to pay for cover so
that the cared for person can be looked after while the carer can have a
break. This has been done with the agreement of the Council, through
agreed support plans Plans and following an assessment of the carers
needs.

Officers have now implemented a change in policy which means that cover
can only be paid for from the cared for persons personal budget.

            

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Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,
This response only partly answers my original questions. There are several areas not answered.
I asked what the date of the implementation of this change of policy took place.
I asked how many carers had already had all or part of their allowances removed on the grounds that they had been spending it on the cared for person. I appreciate that as you review cases you cannot predict, however you should be able to tell how many have already been affected.
I also asked of those already affected, how many had the equivalent amount of money transferred to the cared for persons budget in full or in part, and if only part had been transferred, the reasons why.
This information is very important to assess how many carers have been affected by a change of application of policy by officers. When a budget is set a carer would expect stability in that budget until the next review.
Where a carer has been using their allowance to pay for care and that need still exists then it would be expected under the new rules that that would transfer 100 percent to the cared for persons budget. If it has not then there would need to be a reason as that need had been acknowledged by DASS previously as part of the care plan.
Your answer does not tell me when the change took place, how many carers have had all or part of their allowance removed in full or in part, how many have had their allowances transferred in full or in part to the cared for persons budget, and if in part, why
Therefore can you please answer the original questions.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,
Hello, I have now been waiting for an answer to my questions for over seven months. Can you please clarify if an internal review is taking place and when I may receive the information requested. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

InfoMgr, FinDMT, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Good Afternoon

Thank you for your enquiry below and please accept my apologies for the
unacceptable length of time it has taken to respond to you. 

Some carers have been spending their carers allowance to pay for cover so
that the cared for person can be looked after while the carer can have a
break. This has been done with the agreement of the Council, through
agreed support plans and following an assessment of the carers needs. 
Officers have now implemented a change in policy which means that cover
can only be paid for from the cared for persons personal budget.

Your questions and our responses below:-

1) The date of the implementation of this change.

All changes are being implemented as soon as possible following completion
of the review process but individual circumstances are being taken into
account when implementing the changes to ensure we address any concerns
appropriately

2) How many carers have had all or part of their carers budget removed
from them since the date of implementation, on the grounds that they have
been using the budget to pay for care.

62 people have currently had the personal care element transferred into
the service user budget

3) How many carers will in total, have all or part of their budget removed
on these grounds. I am assuming here that this will happen as annual
reviews take place and therefore over a full year all carers in this
position will be affected.

We are still awaiting the outcome of 49 reviews at which point a final
figure will be calculated

4) Of the number at point 2) above, how many of these sums of money
removed have been moved across to the cared for persons budget. This
figure to be broken down into two categories of full and part. So for
example if a carer has had £1000 per annum removed and this has
transferred to the cared for persons budget that means that the full
amount has been transferred. If only £ 500 has been transferred then that
would show that only part of the budget had been transferred across to the
cared for person.

52 people had the full amount transferred and 10 people had a partial
amount transferred

5) Clearly where the carers budget has been used to pay for care in an
agreed budget, then the need for that care has been proved and therefore
it would be surprising if only part of the budget has been transferred to
the cared for persons budget. So if there are any sums where only part has
been transferred across to the cared for person at point 3), then please
state what the reasons are, in general terms and respecting
confidentiality (e.g. need for care has reduced).

As part of the reviews there were a number of reasons why none or only
part of the budget was transferred these included

·       FACS eligible needs no longer existed

·       Outcomes were being met in another way

 Kind regards,

Jane Corrin

Information and Central Services Manager

Transformation & Resources Department

Wallasey Town Hall

Brighton Street

Wirral

CH44 8ED

 This information supplied to you is copyrighted and continues to be
protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to
use it for your own purposes, including any non commercial research you
are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for
example commercial publication, would require our specific permission, may
involve licensing and the application of a charge.

 

From: Jamie dodger [1][mailto:[FOI #149781 email]]

Sent: 05 June 2013 11:26

To: InfoMgr, FinDMT

Subject: Re: 634990 Removal of Carers Budgets Jamie Dodger

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

This response only partly answers my original questions. There are several
areas not answered.

I asked what the date of the implementation of this change of policy took
place.

I asked how many carers had already had all or part of their allowances
removed on the grounds that they had been spending it on the cared for
person. I appreciate that as you review cases you cannot predict, however
you should be able to tell how many have already been affected.

I also asked of those already affected, how many had the equivalent amount
of money transferred to the cared for persons budget in full or in part,
and if only part had been transferred, the reasons why.

This information is very important to assess how many carers have been
affected by a change of application of policy by officers.  When a budget
is set a carer would expect stability in that budget until the next
review.

Where a carer has been using their allowance to pay for care and that need
still exists then it would be expected under the new rules that that would
transfer 100 percent to the cared for persons budget. If it has not then
there would need to be a reason as that need had been acknowledged by DASS
previously as part of the care plan.

Your answer does not tell me when the  change took place, how many carers
have had all or part of their allowance removed in full or in part, how
many have had their allowances transferred in full or in part to the cared
for persons budget, and if in part, why

Therefore can you please answer the original questions.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[mailto:[FOI #149781 email]]

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,
Thank you for your reply. I asked under question 1 for the date of implementation of this change in policy. Your reply does not answer this question. Clearly there must have been a start date for this change as at some date officers decided that carers would no longer be able to spend their allowances on cover so that they could have a break. Presumably there was then a period when officers were making arrangements for the changes to take place, for example briefing staff. Then at some point the first relevant carer to be affected by the change would have been reviewed.
I would therefore ask that you respond to my original question 1. To aid you and avoid any further delay, can I clarify that I would expect the answer to state the date that officers took the decision and secondly, the date that the first carer to be affected by the change was reviewed. The month and year in both cases would be sufficient.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

InfoMgr, FinDMT, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Good Morning

 

Thank you for your email. I apologise for the considerable delay in being
able to respond to your enquiry.

 

The decision regarding the Carer’s Budget was a decision taken by full
Council on 5 March 2013. The Reviews of the Budgets began in June 2013.

 

Kind regards

 

Sent on behalf of

 

Tracy O’Hare

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator

 

Information & Central Services

Transformation & Resources Department

Wallasey Town Hall

 

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Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

Thank you for your response which still does not answer the question, but does raise an interesting aspect. My question related to when officers took the decision. Your answer tells me when Council approved the decision and when reviews based on this decision commenced.
My original request was made in February 2013 which is after the unknown date that officers started to implement changes to some carers budgets that you are saying was not agreed by Council till 5th March. When I originally asked, I had assumed, because changes were being made ahead of budget options being agreed, that in this matter officers already had delegated powers to reduce carers budgets if they were using their budgets to pay for care for the cared-for person.
You did say on 16th May 2013 in your response to me you say that officers had already started implementing the changes. However in your latest reply you state that this process only started in June. Clearly as I was asking the questions in February it had already started by then.
At no point have you referred to officers having any delegated powers to implement a change before 5th March.
Does this mean that any changes of the nature mentioned in my original questions, implemented by officers before reviews started to be undertaken in June (and based on the 5th March Council decision) were therefore carried out without authority?
As this FOI request has taken so long to answer and the outcome is still unclear can this be the subject of an internal review? I had asked for an internal review in April and again asked in September but assume one has never taken place.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

This is being referred to the ICO.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie dodger

InfoMgr, FinDMT, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Good Morning

 

Thank you for your request for an internal review. I apologise for the
considerable delay in the Council’s response.

 

A full review of this response has been taken by Paula Pritchard, a
Senior Manager in the Department of Adult Social Services, who was not
involved in the Council’s first response.

 

The reviewing officer considers that questions 2, 3, 4, 5 have been
appropriately answered in our email to you of 18^th October 2013.

 

With regards to Question 1 we can offer further clarification as follows:

 

Question 1 relates to whether the review/withdrawal of carers budgets
commenced before the Cabinet decision on 5 March 2013. The Council can
confirm that the review of the carer’s budget did not begin until June
2013.

 

However, the review of support packages has always been a statutory
obligation both before and after the Cabinet decision, and all support
packages should be regularly reviewed. The respondent is correct in that
the Council already have delegated powers to alter care packages, and
therefore there may have been occasions prior to the Cabinet decision that
some people may have been reviewed and services withdrawn through the
usual application of Fair Access to Care services.

 

For your ease of reference, please find the contents of our 18^th October
2013 email below.

 

“Thank you for your enquiry below and please accept my apologies for
the unacceptable length of time it has taken to respond to you. 

 

Some carers have been spending their carers allowance to pay for cover
so that the cared for person can be looked after while the carer can have
a break. This has been done with the agreement of the Council,
through agreed support plans and following an assessment of the carers
needs. 

 

Officers have now implemented a change in policy which means that
cover can only be paid for from the cared for persons personal budget.

 

 Your questions and our responses below:-

 

 1) The date of the implementation of this change.

 

All changes are being implemented as soon as possible following
completion of the review process but individual circumstances are being
taken into account when implementing the changes to ensure we address any
concerns appropriately

 

 2) How many carers have had all or part of their carers budget
removed from them since the date of implementation, on the grounds that
they have been using the budget to pay for care.

 

      62 people have currently had the personal care element transferred
into the service user budget

 

 3) How many carers will in total, have all or part of their budget
removed on these grounds. I am assuming here that this will happen as
annual reviews take place and therefore over a full year all carers in
this position will be affected.

 

We are still awaiting the outcome of 49 reviews at which point a
final figure will be calculated

 

 4) Of the number at point 2) above, how many of these sums of money
removed have been moved across to the cared for persons budget.
This figure to be broken down into two categories of full and part. So for
example if a carer has had £1000 per annum removed and this
has transferred to the cared for persons budget that means that the
full amount has been transferred. If only £ 500 has been transferred then
that would show that only part of the budget had been transferred across
to the cared for person.

 

52 people had the full amount transferred and 10 people had a
partial amount transferred

 

 5) Clearly where the carers budget has been used to pay for care in
an agreed budget, then the need for that care has been proved and
therefore it would be surprising if only part of the budget has been
transferred to the cared for persons budget. So if there are any sums
where only part has been transferred across to the cared for person at
point 3), then please state what the reasons are, in general terms and
respecting confidentiality (e.g. need for care has reduced).

 

      As part of the reviews there were a number of reasons why none or
only part of the budget was transferred these included:

 

·          FACS eligible needs no longer existed

·          Outcomes were being met in another way”

 

Should you be dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you
have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner.

 

I hope this information is of interest to you. Once again, I apologise for
the length of time it has taken for this response to be sent.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

Sent on behalf of

 

Jane Corrin

Information and Central Services Manager

Transformation and Resources

Wirral Council

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