Tameside Supporting People Charging Policy

Introduction

The Supporting People Programme Grant Conditions require that each Commissioning Body have a policy for the charging of service recipients for Supporting People services. (Grant Conditions 2003 onwards as amended) This policy can be to not charge for Supporting People Services, but as the Communities and Local Government, net of an assumed level of charging income, will pay Supporting People Grant the cost of not charging will have to be met by the Commissioning Body partners.

This document sets out the charging policy for Tameside as adopted by the Supporting People Commissioning Group.

Overall Principles

The overall principles of the charging policy are that it should be:

• Fair and understandable for users of services
• As administratively simple as possible for all parties
• Balance risk appropriately between providers and commissioners
• Consistent with other charging and income assessment policies locally
• Allow as much local flexibility as is consistent with the above, particularly in relation to moving to any new charging arrangements.

Guidance on the charging of service users for Supporting People services has been published as Chapter 3 of the Interim Finance Package, the key points are:

• "Short-term" Supporting People services should be provided free of charge as a boost to the motivation of users to find work and to reduce the administrative burden.
• Charging should, in the immediate period of transfer to the new arrangements, reflect the current contributions already being made by service users.
• Although charging can apply to all types of users of long-term services, the majority of long-term services are provided as sheltered housing, and the administrative arrangements therefore have been designed to reflect current administration for this type of service. This involves continuing to use the landlord/tenant relationship as the basis for charging, as set out in detail below. It implies a "block subsidy" type of contract as set out below
• Service users who receive any Housing Benefit (HB) should be "pass-ported" to receive free Supporting People services, for administrative economy and to maintain parity with the previous arrangements under THBS.
• For those not covered by the Housing Benefit pass-porting arrangement there should be a common means-test for Supporting People and non-residential social services to avoid the duplication of means-testing and to ensure that service users' disposable income is not brought below defined basic levels. This will be the local financial assessment mechanism implemented as a result of the implementation of the Department of Health Guidance on "Fairer Charging for Home care and other non-residential Social Services" published in November 2001 ("Fairer Charging" for short).
• Service users who lose entitlement to any Housing Benefit on 1 April 2003, because their HB is less than their support charge should be no worse off on 1 April 2003 than they would have been had the Supporting People Programme not been implemented. This will gradually be replaced by the implementation of the local charging policy arrangements, whose impact on individuals is a local matter, subject to Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and DH guidance

The Policy

Introduction

Recipients of Supporting People services in Tameside will be liable for the payment of all or part of the cost of the services they receive subject to the exclusions and subsidy arrangements set out below.

Exempt Services

Recipients of services that have been designated 'short-term' will be exempt from charging. A service will be considered short-term where it:

• Aims to bring about independent living within two years (disregarding practical delays in securing move-on accommodation) following resolution of a specific need or needs which the supported living arrangement aims to remedy, or following completion of a time-limited programme of support of under two years intended duration
• aims to increase the capacity for independent living (even if fully independent living may not be likely) through a package of time limited housing related support, which package has an intended timescale of less than two years.

Serviceswill generally be taken to offer support on a short-term basis where the service primarily meets the following needs:

• Domestic violence
• Single homeless
• Homeless families
• Drugs / alcohol
• Young vulnerable people
• Ex-offenders
• Refugees/asylum seekers

Non-exempt services

Recipients of services that have been designated as 'long term' will be liable to pay a charge for their support. A service will be considered long term where it:

• aims to maintain a limited degree of independent living which is not expected to increase, and may diminish over time, as part of a permanent or open-ended arrangement.

It is more likely that services for the following client groups will be considered long term.

• Physical disability
• Learning disability
• HIV / AIDS
• Mental health
• Sheltered housing

Other arrangements

The great majority of services will fall into one of the above categories. The rest are likely to fall into one of the following three categories:

1. Services that offer support on both a temporary and long-term basis. In this case, whether users are liable for charges will be decided on a case-by-case basis, according to how the support offered relates to the criteria above.
2. Fluctuating support will generally be treated as short-term provision. Support will be treated as fluctuating if there are periods (4 weeks) during the last year where no support has been needed or received, or if this is an assumption or aspiration in the support package provided.
3. Movement of one user from temporary to long-term status in mixed support project: support will become chargeable once an open-ended package of support is agreed meeting the third criterion.

Transitional Arrangements

Service users in receipt of support services at the point of transition to the new Supporting People arrangements who are making a contribution to their support costs will not be liable to pay any more or have their overall income reduced.

• Subsidy will be available to those service users who received subsidy via Housing Benefit prior to April 2003 from Supporting People Grant
• Subsidy may be available to those service users who received subsidy via pooled rents prior to April 2003.
• Service users who lose their entitlement to Housing Benefit as the result of the removal of support charges will receive transitional protection up until the conclusion of the first Service Review.

Service User Exemptions from Charging

The following categories of service user who receive non-exempt Supporting People support services will be fully subsidised through Supporting People Grant:

• Service users who are in receipt of full or partial housing benefit will be pass-ported for Supporting People services on receipt of a valid application for exemption.
• Users in receipt of services provided under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983
• Users in receipt of defined intermediate care services
• Users suffering from any form of Creutzfeldt Jacob Disease

Individual Exemption From Charges

All service users who are liable for charges are entitled to apply for a financial assessment for relief from all or part of the charge. Individual service users are required to make an application for relief from charges.

Service users who choose to are able to pay the full charge without undergoing a financial assessment.

Service providers have a duty to inform service users of their right to a financial assessment.

Financial Assessments

The general principle is that no individual service user should be left with a weekly income that is below the level of basic Income Support /Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit for someone of the same age and circumstances, plus 25% of that amount.

All service users who receive a financial assessment will also receive advice on benefit entitlement.

Where service users are receiving personal care or domestic services for which they are being charged in addition to Supporting People services, a single financial assessment will be made and a single charge for all services applied.

Service users who have a net weekly income equivalent to basic Income Support / Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit plus 25% or less will pay no charge.

Service users who have a net weekly income above basic income support level plus 25% will pay a charge according to the cost of the services that they receive and their assessed disposable income.

All disability related benefits, with the exception of Mobility Allowance, will be taken into account as part of the service users income and therefore is subject to the assessment process.

Where disability related income is used as income, account will be taken of disability related expenditure incurred by the service user.

As a general guide the following service users will not have to pay:

• Single people aged 60 and over whose total weekly income is at or below £148.81
• A couple aged 60 and over whose joint total weekly income is at or below £227.13
• A couple aged under 60 whose joint total weekly income is at or below £161.00
• Single people aged between 18 and 24 whose total weekly is at or below £90.13
• Single people aged between 25 and 59 in receipt of Enhanced Disability Premium and whose total income is at or below £120.88
• Single people aged between 18 and 24 in receipt of Enhanced Disability Premium and whose total income is at or below £105.50

The value of capital and savings (excluding the value of the users main residence) will be taken into account as part of the assessment process. Users with capital in excess of £13,000 will be liable to contribute towards their support costs on the basis of a tariff income of £1 per £250 of capital and savings up to the full cost of support. These figures will be uprated annually in line with the annual benefits uprating.

Appointment of Income

Service users receiving both non residential social services and Supporting People services will undergo one means test to calculate a single charge for both services. There will be a need to apportion the income to various services e.g. home care or housing related support. The proposal is to apportion income on a pro rata basis (i.e. in accordance with the cost of each service e.g. if home care costs £100 and housing related support costs £50, the home care budget would receive 66.7% of the amount collected and Supporting People would receive 33.3%).

The Supporting People Commissioning Body will determine the level of the minimum charge to be collected.

Level of Charges

The level of charge applicable for Supporting People services is the full cost of the service.

Implementation

From 1 st April 2003, any new user of Supporting People services subject to charging and who is assessed as being able to afford to pay will be charged in accordance with this policy.

All service users will agree to receive support services and to pay the support charge where they are not exempt from payment.

Collection of Charges

In the majority of cases the support provider will collect charges as part of the collection of charges for the accommodation. All subsidy payments and transitional protection payments will be paid to the service provider not to service users.

Recovery of Debt

Any losses incurred through fraud, arrears or voids will be borne by the collector of the charge, whether this is the landlord, support provider or the local authority.

Where service users refuse to pay those responsible for the collection of the charges may consider legal action.

Advice and Guidance

For advice and guidance on this charging policy please contact the Supporting People Team.

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Supporting People Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne Lancs OL6 6DL View local map
0161 342 3267
0161 342 2868