§ Mr. Waldegraveasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has considered the report of the joint working group on personal social services charging policies in England and Wales: and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir George YoungI am grateful to the local authority associations for the part played by their representatives in the joint working group, which examined charging policies and practices with a view to resolving areas of confusion or difficulty. The group reported last summer 413W with a number of recommendations and a larger number of possible options for the future development of policies. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.
I have since discussed with the associations a possible package of measures on the part of central and local government which would, on—so far as can be judged—roughly a nil cost basis, simplify existing legislation and procedures; encourage care within the community and the family; facilitate the rehabilitation of clients capable of undertaking employment; and give greater freedom to local authorities in determining charging policies.
In consequence, the Government intend to make a number of legislative changes when an opportunity occurs: in particular, to enable the statutory minimum charge only to be recovered for the first eight weeks of any stay in residential accommodation; to discourage the divestment of assets by people entering residential care; to simplify the arrangements for parental contributions in respect of children in care; and to make clear that where charges are levied at a local authority's discretion they should be fixed having regard to the means of the recipient or, in the case of a child, his parent or guardian. We also intend to revise the rules concerning assessement of the ability of people in residential accommodation to pay charges, in order to update the allowance made for the possession of capital and to enable residents in paid employment to retain a larger part of their earnings.
The associations have, for their part, agreed to ask their members to consider applying the sliding scale already recommended for mentally disordered residents in employment to all residents in employment and also to young persons aged 16 or over in care who are in employment. They have undertaken to produce for member authorities a list of factors which may be taken into account in assessing the ability of parents to contribute towards the maintenance of a child in care. They have also agreed to suggest an approach to assessing the ability of users to pay for day and domiciliary services.