To consider the above report

Members considered progress towards a new case management system for adult social care, including the timetable for procurement decisions and linkage to budget-setting for 2023-2024

Kevin McDaniel, Executive Director of People Services, highlighted the changes proposed by national government to Adult Social Care (ASC), in particular the funding reforms. From October 2023 ASC funding would have a lifetime cap of £86,000 for eligible care and a new set of thresholds for when individuals could receive support and care (£100,000 rather than the previous £23,000). If the value of a resident’s estate (income and property) was less than £100,000 they would be able to claim support from the state for help with their care.

It was estimated that the change would mean the council would have to work with three times as many residents as currently. This would require significant changes to internal systems. The current case management system was 10 years old and end of life as it was not being updated to deal with the new world of ASC. The council was working with social workers and community groups to change the model of practice to focus on individual strengths and the capabilities of networks, to ensure people stayed as independent for as long as possible.

There was an opportunity to introduce a system geared to that support mechanism and to include online elements so that individuals could see support available including local groups. There would be a requirement on the council to produce a statement online at least every six months to show an individual how much they had spent, how much the council had spent and where the cap was.

Members noted that the date of October 2023 had not been confirmed by the government; there had been some suggestion that the Autumn statement due on 17 November 2022 would give a clearer steer if the timeline would be maintained or not. Despite this, the procurement process had begun with soft market testing, which demonstrated the council would need to spend just over £1m to implement the new system and transfer over the data. As a result of the timing of the procurement process, decisions would need to be taken by March/early April 2023 therefore the budget element would be included as a line in the capital budget for 2023/24. If the government decided to delay the introduction date, the council would still look to undertake the procurement because the current system was end of life. If the government abandoned the reform proposals entirely a new system would still be required to move away from manual processing of claims. A new system would improve the accuracy of bills and the quality of life for residents.

Councillor Haseler commented that ASC was an incredibly important part of local authorities’ responsibilities and highlighted that there was no other option as the current system was considered end of life.

Members noted the breakdown of costs in the report including licenses and staffing implications. It was noted that it may be possible for some existing resources to be repurposed to support the project but there would be a need to buy in some specific external resources. A number of councils were involved in a working party with providers to develop the system as an evolution from generic case management systems, rather than a bespoke solution for each council. There were two main providers in the market for 153 top tier authorities.

Councillor Price commented that the EQIA had been well thought out and the impacts properly assessed. She asked for her compliments to be passed to the report author.

Councillor Hilton commented that there was significant outstanding debt in terms of ASC and one of the intended consequences of a new system would be to enable the council to better manage the situation.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:That the Cabinet Transformation Sub-Committeenotes the content of thereport.