Website Cookie Policy

We use cookies to give you the best possible online experience. If you continue, we’ll assume you are happy for your web browser to receive all cookies from our website.
See our cookie policy for more information.

Practice Areas

More Information

thepartners@wrigleys.co.uk

Leeds: 0113 244 6100

Sheffield: 0114 267 5588

FOLLOW WRIGLEYS:

Send us an enquiry
Close

Testimonials:

"Thanks so much for all your help, advice, patience and effort from day one to today - I can’t imagine how this would have turned out without your skill and stamina."

- A son acting for his mother in a care fees dispute

"Your impact has definitely been felt by all involved, it’s efficient, intelligent and dynamic. I can feel that the opposing party are raising their standards, as soon as they hear from you."

- Sister of disabled man challenging care package

< Back to care journey

When considering the delivery of services to vulnerable people, local authority social services departments must go through the steps that are set down in the Care Act 2014. They are:

1. Assessment: Where it appears to a local authority that an adult may have needs for care and support, they must assess whether they do have needs and what those needs are. The assessment must be made by a person with the training qualification and experience to understand the needs of the person. 

2. Identification of eligible needs: The government has made regulations as to the minimum needs all local authorities must support. The authority must identify those needs from the assessment.

3. Identify the council's duty to meet needs: The council must decide whether the adult needs financial support in having their eligible needs met. If they do, the council must meet their needs, unless they are already being met other than by the provision of paid for care (see carers section). The council also owe a duty to meet the eligible needs of people who are above the financial limits but who lack capacity and have no one to arrange their care for them.

4. Care planning: Having identified that it has a duty to meet needs the council must  prepare a care and support plan for the adult , tell the adult which (if any) of the needs that it is going to meet may be met by direct payments and help the adult decide how to have the needs met. The care plan produced must identify all the needs of the person whether eligible or not and explain which of needs identified are to be met and how.

A central aim of care planning should be to maintain the independence of the adult. This usually means helping them to live in their own home.  (See rehabilitation  section)

In practice there is often an upper limit to the resources that a local authority will use to keep a person at home. That is the equivalent cost of placing the adult in residential care. The authority cannot consider only cost when making a judgement on how much to spend maintaining independence.

Social services care plans and the amount of money offered to pay for the provision can be appealed. 

Guidance

FAQs on Deferred Payments

Read More

General Enquiry

Questionnaire

 

Read More

NHS Continuing Care Enquiry

Questionnaire

 

Read More

02 Dec 2024

How can community-led organisations get involved in the ownership of land for nature recovery?

We recently hosted an online event to look at this question. Here’s a summary of the event and some of the key takeaways….

28 Nov 2024

Work experience and employing children - what employers and schools need to know

A look at the overlapping laws, regulations and obligations around employing young people and children.

27 Nov 2024

What are the requirements for a smaller-scale redundancy consultation?

Court of Appeal clarifies smaller-scale redundancy consultation requirements.