WESTMINSTER “THERE’S NO MONEY FOR CARE IN SEFTON” MEETING CONTRAVENES “NO MONEY IS NOT AN EXCUSE” HIGH COURT RULING.

SEFTON CARE ASSOCIATION

PRESS RELEASE

May 22, 2012.

WESTMINSTER “THERE’S NO MONEY FOR CARE IN SEFTON” MEETING CONTRAVENES “NO MONEY IS NOT AN EXCUSE” HIGH COURT RULING.

Sefton Care Association (SCA) has been told “there is no money” to pay for the shortfall and backdating of care fees frozen by Sefton Borough Council – in direct contravention of a High Court ruling that says “no money is not an excuse”.

Members of SCA met with Care Minister Paul Burstow, John Pugh MP, Sefton Borough Council Chief Executive Margaret Carney and other officials in Westminster, but before SCA could put its case, the “there’s no money” line was delivered.

“As soon as that was said we realised that not only was our meeting a waste of time, but also that the situation had not been properly researched,” said Dan Lingard of Sefton Care Association.

“As the meeting was conducted under Chatham House Rules, we can’t say who said there was no money – but it was said nevertheless.

“Sefton Council has already 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, a dispute which led to SCA committee members being invited to Westminster to discuss the issue.

“But it’s clear there was no intention of arriving at any sort of a conclusion in that meeting which would be of any benefit to people needing care, or care home owners and operators – especially when we were told ‘there’s no money’.

“But what people in the meeting seemed to have lost sight of is that the High Court ruling in November 2011 said that lack of resources is no excuse for not fulfilling care obligations.”

In paragraph 90 of the ruling, His Honour Judge Raynor QC, sitting as a judge of the High Court, quoted an earlier precedent and ruling: “In paragraph 46(2) of his judgment in the Forest Care Home case, Hickinbottom J stated: ‘In deciding whether a person is in need of care and accommodation, an authority is entitled to have regard to its own limited financial resources. However, having set that threshold and found that a particular person surpasses it, an authority is under an obligation to provide care and accommodation in fulfilment of its section 21 obligations (under the National Assistance 1948), which is a specific duty on the authority owed to an individual, not a target duty: lack of resources is no excuse for non-fulfilment of that obligation…’

“The Claimants (Sefton Care Association) submit that the evidence in this case shows that the decision to freeze fees was taken for budgetary reasons alone or at least to an improper extent, without there being any attempt to balance other factors against the need for financial savings.”

Dan Lingard said: “In other words, no money is not an excuse – care obligations must be fulfilled, and they are not being fulfilled by a freeze in care fees, which, given inflation and other factors, means that not only have care fees been frozen – they’ve actually fallen.”

Judge Raynor 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 not only ignored the February 9, 2012 deadline to respond, it has also said 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.

Ends

For further information:

Iain Macauley 07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

@SeftonCareAssn

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