Care Bill becomes Care Act 2014
The Care Act represents the most significant change to adult social care in more than 60 years. People and their carers will have more control over their care and support and the act will clarify what they can expect from the care system.
The Care Act includes provision for:
- Personal budgets are put on a statutory footing for the first time for people with care and support needs and for carers.
- A duty on councils to consider the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of individuals in need of care;
- A new duty to provide preventative services to maintain people's health
- New powers for the chief inspector of social care to hold poor-performing providers to account;
- A cap on personal 'care costs' (not including accommodation costs) of £72,000.
- New rights for carers including the right to an assessment of their needs and the right to get support if they meet eligibility criteria;
- Local Authorities will be required to carry out their care and support functions with the aim of integrating services with those provided by the NHS and any other health related services such as housing
- Public services are required to provide advice and information, continuity of care and inter professional working.
TLAP's involvement in the development of the related statutory regulations and guidance
Before the Act received Royal Assent, Sam Bennett, TLAP programme director, chaired reference group meetings which were set up to support the development of the related statutory regulations and guidance. Resulting drafts will have been sent to Ministers and legal teams ahead of the consultation period.
Sam was involved in a reference group for Clause 4- the new duty upon councils to establish and maintain a universal information and advice service; he chaired a group which met to develop guidance for Clause 5 - the new market shaping duty and finally a group developing regulation and guidance for personal care and support planning, personal budgets and direct payments -clauses 25-32.
The Department of Health will launch a consultation of the draft regulations and guidance that accompany the Act, when they are published.