Local authorities across England will be given over £15 million to help them implement new social care charging reforms that will end the unpredictable cost of care.
Local authorities will be required to upgrade their IT systems so that they can record and maintain care accounts thanks to the increase in demand for additional assessments. This means that the funding will be shared around so that authorities can hire additional staff, prepare their workforce, and recruit dedicated IT staff to oversee the IT upgrade and implementation.
Gillian Keegan, Minister for Care, said:
“Our charging reforms will mean no-one will have to face unpredictable and often catastrophic care costs and this new funding will help local authorities to implement these vital changes.
We’re committed to fair and high-quality, and this is the beginning of our journey of reform, creating the next step in making our ambitious plans a reality.
We’re working closely with local authorities, providers, and care receivers to deliver a smoot transition into the new system to end unpredictable cost of care for the public.”
Supporting earlier discharge from hospitals and into the community and freeing up beds to increase NHS capacity is all part of wider social reforms to better integrate the health and care systems. Almost £5.5 billion for adult social care reforms will be raised by the Health and Social Care Levy
The reform to adult social care will implement a new lifetime cap of £86,000, which will become the maximum amount anyone in England will need to spend on their personal cares starting and this comes into effect from October 2023, with anyone starting to receive care being limited to that figure over the course of their lives.
