to offer a fair choice
If the local authority makes the arrangements for the person you look after to move into a care home, they should make all reasonable efforts to enable them a choice of placements. As all Birmingham Council homes are now due for closure, this will now leave you with the choice of private care homes available.
If you have a particular home in mind, you can ask the local authority to arrange a place of your choice. This is called preferred accommodation, and the home can be anywhere in England or Wales or, by special arrangement, in Scotland.
The local authority has a duty to explain this right of choice to you. This free choice however, is subject to certain conditions, which include the following:
- The preferred accommodation must be likely to meet the person’s needs.
- The cost of the care home should be no more than the local authority would usually pay for a home that would meet the assessed needs.
Where preferred accommodation is more expensive - If you or the person you're looking after chooses a care home which is more expensive than the local authority would usually pay, there are a number of options:
- A third party (such as a relative or friend) can agree to top up the difference in cost.
- The person themselves can top up the fees themselves during the first 12 weeks they're in the care home but not after that time.
- The person you're looking after can enter into a deferred payment scheme – Whereby the council can place a legal charge on the property to be sold at a later date.
Local authorities have been given guidance to take into account when making decisions about how much they will pay towards a particular care home.
They must look at individual circumstances when they compare the cost of the preferred accommodation to what they would usually pay.
Councils do have discretion to pay above the normal amount if they think it appropriate and Care Home Support advisors can certainly assist with this.
The local authority must be careful to compare costs only with care homes which would fully meet the resident’s needs.
The way local authorities commission services is important. If they fail to pay reasonable amounts to care homes in their area, those needing residential care may be under pressure to pay top-up fees.
To meet assessed needs it may be necessary to find a care home outside the local authority area. Even if this is more expensive the local authority will need to meet the cost if there is no viable alternative.
Challenging requests for top-up payments is almost unknown to people outside of the care sector. Both the person moving into care or relatives/friends can make a complaint about an assessment and again, this is where our specialist knowledge is invaluable.
For example, it may be that the local authority has failed to take into account all of the person’s needs, including psychological, religious and cultural. It may be possible to argue that only certain care homes can meet those needs, even if they are more expensive.
If the local authority is arguing that there are care homes that are suitable at a lower price than the preferred accommodation, you can ask them to give you specific examples and check whether or not there are any vacancies.
If you need to move into a care home, your local authority will assess whether you have to make a contribution towards the fees.
They will make their decision based on your income and savings. For example, if you have more than £23,250 (subject to change) in savings (this may include the value of your home (see below) then you will usually have to pay the care home fees in full.
If you own your own home and you move into a residential care home permanently, the local authority will ignore the value of your home for the first 12 weeks of your stay. After that, they will usually include the value of your home when working out whether you have to pay care home fees. This means that you will be expected to sell your home to pay the fees.
In certain situations, the local authority will not include the value of your home when working out whether you have to pay fees. They will ignore the value of your home if any of the following people are living in it:
- Your partner or your former partner.
- A relative who is aged over 60.
- A relative who is incapacitated, for example, someone with a disability.
- A relative who is responsible for a child aged under 16.
The local authority can also choose to ignore the value of your home if they think it is reasonable to do so, for example, if you have another relative living at home who does not fit into any of the above categories.
The Capital Limit is set by the local authority and is the amount at which you would be required to pay the full cost of your care (known as: ‘self-funding’). This limit is currently £23,250 and is reviewed annually.
It is important to know that capital of £14,250 or less will be ignored in calculating the contribution towards care. This means that if a person has less than £14,250 they will not have to contribute towards their care home fees from their savings. However, the person would have to contribute their income which includes benefits such as pensions, attendance allowance etc... The person is however entitled to a weekly personal allowance for their own personal use.