Care and Support Planning

A care and support plan is a document specific to the person which details all of the needs they have and how these needs will be met. The care and support plan should specify which needs are ‘eligible’, what the personal budget is, and information on how else needs could be met or reduced. Information should also be included on what could prevent or delay further development of needs. The adult for whom the care and support plan is written must be fully involved in its creation where possible.

If you have a care and support plan, you should have been fully involved in its creation. This is written in legislation – in The Care Act 2014 – and is something you can challenge if you feel the process was not followed by the local authority.

Direct payments are payments made by the local authority to a person with care and support needs. These payments are the same amount that the local authority are paying towards meeting care and support needs but paid to the person ‘directly’ for them to pay for their own care.

If a person is requesting direct payments, they must have the mental capacity to request these and manage the payments to pay for their care. The individual can also nominate a person to support them and access support to set up and manage the payments.  If the individual lacks capacity, a person authorised under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (i.e. a deputy or Lasting Power of Attorney) must be involved.  The Local Authority do not have to meet needs by direct payments, and they must be satisfied that direct payments are appropriate for the person. There may be conditions attached to direct payments which if breached, can mean the direct payments are ended. 

If you disagree with a local authority decision about your needs, how they should be met, or with how the assessment process has been carried out, there are ways you can challenge this. Each local authority should have their own complaints process which they should support you to follow. Independent complaints advocacy should also be available to you, or you may choose to seek legal advice. We can support you to follow the complaints processes or challenge the local authority through the Court of Protection or judicial review.

Yes, you can challenge the local authority's suggestion of residential care. Firstly, it is useful to ask for copies of your assessments and support plans if these have not already been provided to you. It may be appropriate to ask for a meeting to discuss the reasons for the local authority’s suggestion, and if you wish to have a family/friend there to support you, this should be facilitated. If you have difficulty in expressing your views and wishes, local advocacy providers can support with this and your local authority should provide you with information about them and refer to them on your behalf with your consent.

As specialists in community care and mental capacity law we can support you through any legal processes to challenge local authority decisions.

If a person is found to lack the mental capacity to make a decision on where their care and support needs should be met, the best interest decision making process should be followed. This means that the decisions made should be in the individuals ‘best interest’. This refers to the decision being the least restrictive, involving the person’s views and wishes, and following the Mental Capacity Act 2005. A best interests meeting will be required to discuss the details of the proposed move to a care home. This may include advocacy support if there is no one willing and able to support the person at the meeting but could include you as a relative.

If no agreement is reached between the person and/or their representatives, and the decision maker (i.e. local authority), there may need to be an application to the Court of Protection.

As specialists in community care and mental capacity law we can support you through any legal processes and Court of Protection procedures.

Whether a person must pay for their needs to be met is dependent on their individual financial information. A financial assessment will be done by the local authority to calculate how much the person needs to contribute towards the cost of their care.

In England, there is a threshold for finances whereby anyone with savings valued at below £14,250 does not have to make any contribution to their care costs. Anyone with savings above £14,250 but below £23,500 will likely have to contribute to their care costs. Anyone with more than £23,250 savings is classed as a ‘self-funder’ and liable for all of their care costs.

Some individuals are eligible for CHC (Continuing Healthcare) NHS funding which is funding available to individuals with a primary health need which is of a complex, severe and/or unpredictable nature. There is an assessment process for this funding which is explained HERE. 

The Care Act 2014 states that “a local authority must (a) keep under review generally care and support plans, and support plans, that it has prepared, and (b) on a reasonable request by or on behalf of the adult to whom a care and support plan relates or the carer to whom a support plan relates, review the plan”. Thus, if you feel that your care and support needs have changed or your care and support plan needs to be reviewed, you should contact your local authority/social worker to request this.