Care funding and the Care Act 2014
Granted royal assent in May 2014, the Care Act 2014 was designed to modernise the legal framework around the provision of adult social care in the England (separate regulations apply to other areas of the UK).
The changes contained within the Act were always intended to be implemented in stages. Some of these were implemented in April 2015, but many other key elements have now been postponed until at least 2020.
Changes implemented to date include:
- Changes to the approach that local authorities should follow when making decisions about social care.
- Introducing standard national criteria to establish eligibility for care or support from the local authority.
- Introducing a requirement for local authorities to complete an Assessment of Financial Resources to establish the level of support that should be provided by a local authority.
- A new legal requirement for the local authority to provide information and advice in relation to care needs. This includes a requirement to explain how individuals can access financial advice.
- Introducing Universal Deferral Payment Arrangements which allows some people to defer the payment of care fees until their property is sold or they die.
- Implementing Direct Payments, which allow the payment of local authority support to be made directly to individuals who will then be responsible for arranging care for themselves. This is not currently available for those currently living in a care home.
Key elements that have been postponed include:
- Changes to the means testing thresholds used to establish the level of local authority support.
- Any cap on the care costs that individuals will have to pay themselves.
- Extending the direct payments system to those already in a residential care home.
