Agenda item

RESOLVED:

1.            That Cabinet notes the key changes, implications and overarching risks of the government’s Adult Social Care Charging and Fair Cost of Care reforms for Surrey residents and Surrey County Council.

2.            That Cabinet notes the collaborative approach and the emerging plans to prepare, and as far as possible mitigate risks, for implementation from October 2023.

3.            That Cabinet approves up to £2.9m of the Council’s Budget Equalisation Reserve to be used to fund additional expenditure required in 2022/23 to facilitate the implementation of Adult Social Care Charging and Fair Cost of Care reforms above funding provided by government as set out in Annex 2.

Reasons for Decisions:

The Government published its Adult Social Care system reform white paper ‘People at the heart of care’ on 1 December.  The intent of the white paper is to make the system fairer and ensure more people do not face enormous care costs.  In Surrey the reforms will mean the Council will fund care for more people, the availability and therefore the quality of care may be affected, and a significant funding short-fall is anticipated based on current proposed government funding which has been widely commented on as insufficient to meet the full cost of the reforms.  With high levels of self-funding residents and existing staffing challenges in Surrey, the implementation timetable means it will be challenging to recruit, upgrade systems and build capacity to support so many residents.  Current government guidance recommends an awareness campaign from January – March 2023, assessments starting in April 2023 in readiness for implementation from October 2023.

(The decisions on this item can be called-in by the Adults and Health Select Committee)

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health who explained that the report summarised the current proposals which make up the government’s Adult Social Care Charging and Fair Cost of Care reforms and the anticipated cumulative impact forSurrey County Council. The reforms would harmonise costs and provide a fair cost of care for our self funders. In Surrey we have 60% self funders. The lack of detail pose a number of risks to the council. These risks are presented in potential and modelled increased costs, reduced income and increased numbers of new residents needing support within adult social care. The reforms have potential to disrupt provider relationships and will lead to significant increase in staffing capacity. The Cabinet Member said that she was confident that the adult social care leadership and corporate leadership would navigate through these reforms and implement them to the benefit of all of our Surrey residents. The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources raised concerns around the financial impact of the proposed reforms on the Councils financial stability. The magnitude and uncertainty around the adult social care reform was the biggest unquantifiable area of financial pressure.

Will Forster queried how the possible impacts from the reforms would be displayed on the councils risk register and how the council planned to reduce the cumulative costs of the reforms to the council over the next ten years. The Leader stated that this was a sighting paper as reforms would come about in October 2023. The Leader did not think it was helpful to pin down what the reforms would look like without quality data. The Leader had been reassured that the next Prime Minister would honour the commitment of the government to fund the reforms. It was important that the government analyse the data from the trailblazer councils as this would help better understand the counties position moving forward.

RESOLVED:

1.            That Cabinet notes the key changes, implications and overarching risks of the government’s Adult Social Care Charging and Fair Cost of Care reforms for Surrey residents and Surrey County Council.

2.            That Cabinet notes the collaborative approach and the emerging plans to prepare, and as far as possible mitigate risks, for implementation from October 2023.

3.            That Cabinet approves up to £2.9m of the Council’s Budget Equalisation Reserve to be used to fund additional expenditure required in 2022/23 to facilitate the implementation of Adult Social Care Charging and Fair Cost of Care reforms above funding provided by government as set out in Annex 2.

Reasons for Decisions:

The Government published its Adult Social Care system reform white paper ‘People at the heart of care’ on 1 December.  The intent of the white paper is to make the system fairer and ensure more people do not face enormous care costs.  In Surrey the reforms will mean the Council will fund care for more people, the availability and therefore the quality of care may be affected, and a significant funding short-fall is anticipated based on current proposed government funding which has been widely commented on as insufficient to meet the full cost of the reforms.  With high levels of self-funding residents and existing staffing challenges in Surrey, the implementation timetable means it will be challenging to recruit, upgrade systems and build capacity to support so many residents.  Current government guidance recommends an awareness campaign from January – March 2023, assessments starting in April 2023 in readiness for implementation from October 2023.

(The decisions on this item can be called-in by the Adults and Health Select Committee)