RISKS faced by families and the council with the introduction of the Care Act were highlighted by Thurrock Council Leader, Cllr John Kent on Wednesday (25 February).
He was introducing a debate on next year’s council budget and spoke of extra responsibilities all authorities in control of social care will have.
Cllr Kent said: “In April the Care Act will start to come into force and at first glance it looks like a good piece of legislation. Indeed, there is a lot to commend in it. But there are also concerns.
“The Act introduces a ‘care cap’, which also comes into effect from 2016, but this doesn’t mean people in care will stop paying once their total costs reach a certain level – it is a care cap, not a board and lodging cap, and those costs will continue.”
He said the Act also had financial implications for the council which the government says will be covered, but he asked: “Once that cap is reached, for example, who pays”.
Cllr Kent went on: “From this coming April we will have new duties and responsibilities, we will be assessing people’s care and support needs differently; we will be assessing carers’ support needs differently; and we will be working on keeping people healthy and living independently in their homes longer.
“All good stuff, but financed within a £10 million reduction in funding.”
He said: “Of course the government says we have extra money – as mentioned before – around £9 million of health-related funding. But this isn’t extra money, it is NHS funding now classified as belonging jointly to the NHS and the council.”
