Social care charging policy

Overview

Leicester City Council is proposing a change to its financial assessment for people who receive non-residential care. This survey can be filled in by anyone, not just those who receive help from adult social care.

Why is change needed?

The Care Act 2014 introduced changes to the guidance on financial assessments. We plan to bring our assessments in line with the current guidance.

What are we proposing?

Everyone who is eligible for adult social care has a financial assessment to work out if they have to pay towards the cost of their care, and if so, how much. The assessment criteria are outlined in the council’s charging policy, which can be found at leicester.gov.uk/financial-assessment

The financial assessment takes into account any benefits that people may receive from the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) because of their disability. These are called disability benefits and are paid in the form of:

•    Attendance allowance (AA) – for over 65s
•    Disability living allowance (DLA) – for under 65s
•    Personal independence payments (PIP) – slowly replacing DLA.

We are proposing to change the way in which these benefits are treated, within the financial assessment, to bring it in line with the latest legislation.

The change will not affect your entitlement or eligibility to any disability benefits, or their rates.

Why your views matter

We want to hear your views on the proposed changes. No changes can be made until the city mayor and his executive team have considered the findings of the survey. The consultation will run from 2 September to 15 November 2019. A decision is likely to be taken by February 2020.

If you want to talk to someone about the survey or you need support to complete it, please call our helpline on 0116 454 4400 or email us at ascconsultations@leicester.gov.uk