SEFTON COUNCIL IGNORES HIGH COURT RULING – AND FREEZES CARE FEES FOR A THIRD YEAR

SEFTON CARE ASSOCIATION

PRESS RELEASE

May 8, 2012.

SEFTON COUNCIL IGNORES HIGH COURT RULING – AND FREEZES CARE FEES FOR A THIRD YEAR.

Sefton Council has defied a High Court ruling and told care home owners and the borough’s vulnerable that it will be freezing care fees for both 2011/12 and 2012/13.

Now Sefton Care Association says that as many as 50% of care homes in the borough may be forced to close, generating massive worry and uncertainty for the families of the area’s frail and vulnerable.

Senior council officers dropped the bombshell to care home owners despite a judge telling the local authority in November 2011 that it must make a decision on reassessment of care fees paid to the most vulnerable people by February 9, 2012.

In a Judicial Review in the High Court in Manchester, His Honour Judge Raynor QC ruled that Sefton Council should not have frozen 2011/2012 payment levels to elderly people in care in the borough, and that it did not pay due regard to the actual cost of care in making its unilateral decision. He directed Sefton Council to enter into consultation with local care homes, and to reassess care payments for the 2011/2012 financial year – and establish the actual cost of care by which care fee rates could be set.

But Sefton council says it will freeze care fees retrospectively, and for the 2012/13 financial year as well – meaning that care fees have been static despite the Retail Prices Index rising nearly 12% in the three years since care fees were last increased.

Sefton Care Association, which represents a large proportion of care homes in the borough, says the implications are massive – not just locally, but potentially nationally as a care-fee-freeze precedent has been effectively set, with local authorities likely to stump up the cost of more Judicial Reviews rather than find the cash to increase care fees. Legal bills for a Judicial Review are a fraction of the shortfall in care fees.

Council officers have also told care home owners that an independent report into the cost of care in Sefton, commissioned by Sefton Care Association and carried out by highly-respected research organisation Laing & Buisson, was “deficient” and that council officials “questioned the significance and reliability of the report”.

But Peter Moore of Sefton Council also then told care home owners that “the report provides more data than our own spread sheet did”.

However, Mark Gilbert of Sefton Care Association, said: “Laing & Buisson (L&B) is the foremost research organisation in the sector, recognised by all levels of government – up to and including ministerial level – as being a provider of accurate, independent and unbiased research.

“The key issues are not just the cost of care, but also homes gaining a reasonable return on capital investment so enabling essential maintenance and upgrading of property and equipment essential for the wellbeing of elderly residents.

“There’s a big gap between the cost of providing care and the level of funds Sefton Council currently allocates: families and those in care are struggling to afford the shortfall between Sefton’s current funding provision level, and the cost of care – care homes are doing everything in their power to bring costs down.

“L&B provided information for four categories of care home client support. Typically, nursing care for a frail older person – many of whom require 24/7 support – has, according to L&B, an actual weekly cost of £626, or £699 if we include a 13% return to cover the cost of maintenance and improvement of the care home. But Sefton Council’s currently frozen weekly care fee rate is £510. It is down to the individual client or their family to make up the difference; care home owners have reached a point where there is simply nothing else to cut.”

Ends

For further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

CARE CRISIS: SEFTON COUNCIL’S OPPORTUNITY OF 1,600 LIFETIMES

SEFTON CARE ASSOCIATION

PRESS RELEASE

January 31, 2012.

CARE CRISIS: SEFTON COUNCIL’S OPPORTUNITY OF 1,600 LIFETIMES.

Sefton Council has the opportunity of 1,600 lifetimes to be the first local authority in the country to properly assess and fund care for the most vulnerable members of society.

That’s the view of Sefton Care Association, which represents a large proportion of care homes in the borough, following a High Court ruling which directed the council to establish the actual cost of care for the elderly in the area.

The opportunity arises following a Judicial Review in the High Court in Manchester in November 2011 in which His Honour Judge Raynor QC ruled that Sefton Council - a typical middle-sized authority - should not have frozen 2011/2012 payment levels to 1,600 elderly people in care in the borough, and that it did not pay due regard to the actual cost of covering care in making its unilateral decision.

He then directed Sefton Council to reassess care payments for the 2011/2012 financial year – but Sefton Care Association sees an opportunity for the council to set a standard and precedent for the rest of the country’s social care budget-holding authorities, not just retrospectively, but also as budget-setting deadlines approach for 2012/2013.

“Those needing care have not had one single positive word of certainty on care and support for as far back as most of us can remember; this is an opportunity for one local authority to change the prioritisation of care provision forever, and get itself a place in history,” said Mark Gilbert, a member of the executive committee of Sefton Care Association.

“Sefton Care Association has brought in Laing and Buisson – a nationally recognised research organisation - which will provide an independent report into the cost of providing care in the borough, a move which the council has not resisted. The key issues are not solely the cost of care, but also homes gaining a reasonable return on capital investment so enabling essential maintenance and upgrading of property and equipment.

“Sefton families with elderly relatives in care, as well as carers and care home operators in the borough, have been appealing to local councillors to reverse the local authority’s stance on paying for care in the area. This is a great opportunity for funding to be assessed in a sensible fashion, and provided at a realistic level.”

Dan Lingard, chairman of Sefton Care Association, added: “There’s a big gap between the cost of providing care and the level of funds Sefton Council currently allocates: families and those in care are struggling to afford the shortfall between Sefton’s current funding provision level, and the cost of care – and the care homes are doing everything in their power to bring costs down. But they’ve reached a point where there is nothing else to cut.

“Sefton Council currently pays a maximum of £510 a week towards funding of nursing care for an individual, but the indications are that the actual cost is in the region of £600 a week. Currently, individuals – many with dementia - and their families have to fund that shortfall, which most would agree is not an acceptable state of affairs.”

Ends

For further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

@Press_Relations

LEGAL TEAMS SCRAMBLED ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS HIGH COURT RULES COUNCIL CARE FEE FREEZES ARE UNLAWFUL.

DR ROS ALTMANN

DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAGA

@SagaRosAltmann

QUOTES.

November 9, 2011.

LEGAL TEAMS SCRAMBLED ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS HIGH COURT RULES COUNCIL CARE FEE FREEZES ARE UNLAWFUL.

Dr Ros Altmann, Director-General of over-50s group Saga, commenting on the ruling today, November 9, 2011, in the High Court that Sefton Council’s decision to freeze fees for people needing care in the borough is unlawful:

“I expect many local authorities have been taken aback by this ruling, and quite a few legal and financial teams scrambled to assess what could be a massive impact upon the way councils fund care for older people, and how this ruling could reach far and wide.

“Once again the old and vulnerable are in the news as being on the receiving end of care and support shortfalls - but on this occasion their representatives have bitten back and bitten hard.

“Rather than rising to the challenge of funding the extra care needs of our ageing population, local authorities are continually cutting the care needs they will cover, leaving frail older people to fend for themselves - even freezing funding in the face of significant cost rises. This is an outrage and has rightly been declared illegal.

“In its ruling today that it is unlawful for local authorities to freeze care funding in this way purely to cut its own costs and without regard to the actual cost of providing care, the High Court has certainly put the cat among the pigeons. The flawed funding system of social care in England is being brutally exposed and the impact of local authority cuts and lack of long term funding is leaving increasing numbers of vulnerable older people without adequate care.

“The problem is one that has been highlighted so many times recently and stems from the fundamental fact that social care is the poor relation in our health system - and is not integrated with the NHS. Social care is largely run and funded by local authorities, whose budgets are being squeezed as never before, even while demand for care is rising inexorably year on year.

“But that leaves us with the underlying problem that local authorities do not have enough money to pay for proper care and, while resources are all focussed on the NHS, care is being neglected - and thus those needing care are also neglected.

“When will we wake up to the challenges and threats of such severe care underfunding?

“We need a radical overhaul of the whole system and the Dilnot review sets out a credible framework for action. This must include ringfencing public funding, better integration between NHS and social care, investment in prevention and early intervention, as well as an end to across-the-board care cutbacks by local authorities.

“Inadequate social care can be just as life-threatening as withholding medical care, especially for our increasing numbers of older people, yet somehow public money places all the emphasis on just one part of the picture.”

Ends

For further information:

Saga Press Office
01303 771529.

www.saga.co.uk

Iain Macauley
im@pressrelations.co.uk
07788 978800

CARE BILL SHORTFALL COULD DOUBLE TO £2 BILLION AS JUDGE RULES COUNCIL FREEZE ON CARE PAYMENTS TO ELDERLY IS UNLAWFUL.

SEFTON CARE ASSOCIATION

PRESS RELEASE

November 9, 2011.

CARE BILL SHORTFALL COULD DOUBLE TO £2 BILLION AS JUDGE RULES COUNCIL FREEZE ON CARE PAYMENTS TO ELDERLY IS UNLAWFUL.

Copies of judgment and solicitor’s summary available on request.

The potential shortfall in the budget for care of the elderly in England and Wales could well have instantly doubled to £2 billion after a High Court judge ruled that Sefton Council broke the law when it froze payments covering the cost of care for elderly people in care homes.

The landmark decision could affect 140 local authorities which froze or reduced care payments to thousands of care home residents, but it could mean care support justice for older people who have been forced to raid their savings or assets to cover the cost of good quality and dignified care.

His Honour Judge Raynor QC ruled in the High Court in Manchester on November 9, 2011, that Sefton Council - a typical middle-sized authority - should not have frozen payment levels to 1,600 elderly people in care in the borough, and that it did not pay due regard to the actual cost of covering care in making its unilateral decision.

The claimants against Sefton Council’s decision to freeze payments were Sefton Care Association, Melton Health Care Limited, Westcliffe Manor Nursing Home, Benridge Care Homes Limited and Craignair Care Home. The financially-constrained action brought backing by both independent and charity-based providers in the local community.

Elderly residents, many with dementia, and their families, have been forced to top up the growing difference between Sefton Council’s frozen payment contribution level and the actual cost of care. The last time Sefton increased fees was April 2009. That means they have been frozen at the April 2009 rates ever since.

The judicial review and judgement relates specifically to the current year freeze, April 2011 to March 2012. Sefton Council claims to have saved £1.5m by not increasing fees by the proposed 2%. The claimants will now seek to reclaim the lost portion of fees to meet the actual cost of care which could be significantly higher, and at the very least in line with inflation of 4.5%. That alone will cost the Sefton around £3.4m, and, with the next year's budget now in sight, the cost may not stop there - inflation is now over 5% so next year this will climb to £3.75m, meaning a total of £7.15m additional cost to Sefton.

The King’s Fund recently suggested care funding would have a £1 billion shortfall by 2014. But if each of the 140 local authorities affected receives claims for similar shortfalls – Sefton appearing to have an average-sized population of elderly in care - then this could mean around an additional £1 billion would need to be found.

Judge Raynor said that care homes in the Sefton area should have been allowed to substantiate their concerns over the two-year payment freeze, and that the local authority in question was under a duty to consult with residential care providers locally. Failure to do so made the payment freeze decision unlawful.

Dan Lingard, Chairman of Sefton Care Association, and owner of Birch Abbey Care Home in Southport, said: “This win gives us no great pleasure – but it does provide a tremendous sense of justice for the most vulnerable of people. It is an action which should not have had to be taken out in the first place, but clearly has massive implications for care. It may well be the tipping point which re-prioritises the way care is funded and provided in this country.

“We may well be living and operating in a very tough economic environment, but the Judge has effectively ruled that the financial environment is not a good enough reason for a council to impose a freeze on payments to massively vulnerable people.

“The courts have ruled that the council’s decision to freeze payments is unlawful, and we await an urgent and positive response from Sefton Council confirming that they will now re-make this decision with an increase in funding.

“There are hundreds of vulnerable people affected and the council needs to act swiftly.

“A key issue, given the state of care funding in the UK, is that many people and their families may have had to sell assets to pay for the inflation-affected widening gap between what the local authority paid and what the cost of care actually is.

“We’re now looking for Sefton Council to respond with some sort of offer in terms of increased fees for 2011/12. We also expect Sefton Council to agree to implement the findings of an independent assessment of the actual cost of care in Sefton. The Sefton Care Association is prepared to raise funds to contribute towards this. But, crucially, we want to see a new and meaningful consultation process replacing the current now discredited approach.”

Dan Lingard is chairman of Sefton Care Association, Chief Executive of Melton Health Care Limited - which operates Birch Abbey Care Home in Southport - and a nationally-noted dementia care innovator. He founded the iPersonally approach to dementia care, and is a regular speaker on dementia care innovation and technology development.

Further quotes from Dan Lingard:

“Critical budget savings at the NHS are being put at risk by a rising tide of elderly needing admission to hospital due to a withdrawal of social care services.

“The elderly and their families are falling victim to a vicious circle of neglect as the NHS and local authorities struggle to provide anything but emergency care for the most vulnerable.

“Inflation is killing the elderly and the vulnerable as services are being cut to providing for only the most needy as Local Authorities up and own the country fight to resolve budget cuts made worse by high inflation.

“Many care home owners up and down the country are hanging on by a thread as the third year of freezes and cuts in fees start to take their toll. In financial terms, this ruling could dwarf the Southern Cross bankruptcy; there is real concern local authorities in their dominant, near-monopoly buying position may have pushed charity as well as commercial operators too far for too long.”

Ends

For further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

@Press_Relations