There are long-established practices in Welsh Local Authorities regarding how a service-users means should be treated when calculating their contributions (if any) towards the costs of their care. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 imposes some mandatory changes on Local Authorities in this area but also allows for some discretion. Wrexham Council is now considering exercising some of this discretion.
Any changes to the discretionary elements of the charging policy would be done to ensure fairness and equity for all service-users; would remove some long-standing anomalies; would go some way to redressing the negative financial impacts to the Council of the mandatory changes; and ensure that the best possible services are provided/procured for those who need them.
For further information regarding the SS & WB (Wales) Act and what it says Council`s must and may do in relation to paying for Social Care, see –
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2014/4/contents/enacted and
http://gov.wales/topics/health/socialcare/act/code-of-practice/?lang=en
For Wrexham Council`s current (pre Act) policy and information regarding charging for Social Care provision, see
http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/assets/pdfs/social_services/leaflets/paying_for_socialcare_services.pdf and http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/assets/pdfs/social_services/leaflets/financial_information_guide.pdf
Adult Social Care would like to know your views on potential changes to the way we undertake the financial assessment calculation.