Care and Support Charging and Financial Assessment Framework

Contents

• 1. Summary
• 2. Legal context
• 3. Principles of this framework
• 4. Care and support services provided free of charge
• 5. Chargeable care and support services
• 6. Care and support financial assessment policy
• 7. Section 117 and social care packages of care
• 8. Mental capacity to manage finances
• 9. Residence when moving to accommodation outside Bath and North East Somerset Council
• 10. Deferred Payment Agreements (DPAs)
• 11. Interim funding policy
  • 11.1 Eligibility criteria
  • 11.2 The application process
  • 11.3 Review of funding and six-monthly statements
  • 11.4 Making an application for a Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA)
  • 11.5 Default provisions
• 12. Choice of accommodation and top up payments
• 13. Funding agreement
• 14. Direct Payments
• 15. Equality Impact Assessment
• 16. Reviewing the Charging and Financial Assessment Framework
• 17. Appeals
• 18. Annex A
• 19. Annex B
• 20. Annex C
• 21. Annex D
• 22. Annex E
• 23. Glossary of terms

11.1 Eligibility criteria

The Council may consider Interim Funding for you if all of the following applies:

• Your identified needs can only be met in a care home on a permanent basis
• Your financial circumstances indicate that you are responsible for the full cost of your care home accommodation under the Council’s Care and Support Financial Assessment and Charging Policy
• You lack mental capacity to manage your finances
• Your representative is not yet legally appointed to manage your financial affairs
• Your representative has not been able to make an arrangement with your care home to defer your care fees until they become appointed
• Your representative has no other interim funding alternatives available to them while they are waiting for the Court to appoint them as deputy
• Your representative is willing to provide a written undertaking that they are applying to the Court of Protection to become deputy and that once they are appointed deputy by the Court they will either discharge the deferred care fees or (where eligible) enter into a Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA) with the Council.

The Council may consider other situations to offer you Interim Funding if a DPA is temporarily not available to you due to factors that you are actively seeking to resolve (for example, if your property is unregistered or for sale) or you reside in rented supported accommodation, extra care housing schemes or Shared Lives schemes89 . These will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Your representative who will be acting for you should always seek independent financial and legal advice before making any decisions about whether a DPA is the best option for you.

The Council can provide your representative with an Interim Funding Agreement and a Model DPA (if appropriate) to look at with their legal adviser. We would advise your representative to seek financial and legal advice as soon as possible so that they have all the information to decide on the most suitable funding arrangements for you, so that they can start making any necessary applications/arrangements.

• 89If the Council agrees interim funding and you reside in rented supported accommodation, extra care housing schemes or Shared Lives Schemes you are not entitled to have the property disregarded for the first 12 weeks you are not resident at the property. Any charge will commence form the day you reside at the alternate accommodation.