1. Getting ready for the Care Act 2014 Clara Swinson
17 September 2014

2. A brief history of care and support
Social care law and policy has evolved over more than 65 years, incorporating around 30 Acts of Parliament, but reform has usually been piecemeal.
National Assistance Act 1948: established the welfare state and abolished the Poor Laws
NHS and Community Care Act 1990: first major set of reforms, including first right to assessments and start of commissioner/ provider split.
Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996: new powers to make direct payments
Health and Social Care Act 2001: updates on direct payments
1948
1960…
1970…
1980…
1990…
2000…
2010…
Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970: reforms to key entitlements to community services
Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995: the first Act to recognise carers
Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000: extending direct payments to carers
The Care Act: reforming care and support

3. What does the Care Act do?
The Act is built around people, it:
ensures that people’s well-being, and the outcomes which matter to them, will be at the heart of every decision that is made;
puts carers on the same footing as those they care for;
creates a new focus on preventing and delaying needs for care and support, rather than only intervening at crisis point, and building on the strengths in the community;
embeds rights to choice, through care plans and personal budgets, and ensuring a range of high quality services are available locally.
The Act makes care and support clearer and fairer, it:
extends financial support to those who need it most, and protects everyone from catastrophic care costs though a cap on the care costs that people will incur.
will ensure that people do not have to sell their homes in their lifetime to pay for residential care, by providing for a new deferred payments scheme;
provides for a single national threshold for eligibility to care and support;
supports people with information, advice and advocacy to understand their rights and responsibilities, access care when they need it, and plan for their future needs;
gives new guarantees to ensure continuity of care when people move between areas, to remove the fear that people will be left without the care they need;
includes new protections to ensure that no one goes without care if their provider fails, regardless of who pays for their care.
The Care Act: reforming care and support

4. The legal framework
The primary legislation - the Care Act 2014 sets the legal duties and powers
The secondary legislation - the regulations. The scope of regulations is set by the Care Act.
The statutory guidance on how to meet legal obligations in the Bill. This sets out the expectations of local authorities when exercising their functions
We are also developing practice guidance, toolkits and other products which help support implementation.
The Care Act: reforming care and support

5. Affordability of the Care Act reforms
The Government has provided £470m to fund LAs to implement the Care Act in 15/16
The overall funding position for social care is very tight. We will use data from the BCF plans on:
National condition to protect social care services
LA’s access to money in the BCF for Care Act implementation
Revisions to the impact assessment to reflect changed assumptions on costs
Greater costs for carers in 2015/16 and beyond
Reduced costs for DPAs and early assessment of self funders
Regulations and guidance on eligibility have been amended following consultation to ensure that they are cost-neutral
Delayed implementation of the new right of self funders in residential care to request that a LA arrange care on their behalf
DH – Leading the nation’s health and care

6. Key dates Date Action October 2014
Publication of 2015/16 regulations and guidance
Launch of Skills for Care learning and development materials
Publication of implementation support products
Report on second LA stocktake survey
November/December 2014
Ongoing publication of implementation support products
Parliamentary debates on regulations
Public awareness campaign (phase 1 – local)
Launch of consultation on 2016/17 regulations and guidance
Response to consultation on funding formulae
January 2015
Third LA stocktake survey
Public awareness campaign (phase 1 – national)
April 2015
Implementation of first phase of reforms
October 2015
Publication of final 2016/17 regulations and guidance
Public awareness campaign (phase 2)
April 2016
Implementation of second phase of reforms
The Care Act: reforming care and support