Financial matters

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Probably the single most important issue for elderly or vulnerable adult care is that of finances. This is likely to include:

  1. •

    whether they have and will have resources sufficient to cover their needs

  2. •

    where they can get extra finance when needed

Local authority—eligibility for support

Since the creation of the welfare state in the 1940s, local authorities (LAs) have been given powers and subjected to duties to provide care and attention for those in need. However, the law was developed in a piecemeal manner and spread across a myriad of statutes and statutory instruments which were supplemented by numerous guidance documents. The Care Act 2014 (CA 2014) was enacted as a single comprehensive statute to: bring together and harmonise the existing law; reflect modern practices; and implement the recommendations of the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support headed by Andrew Dilnot in 2011. It applies to all English LAs.

Detailed regulations are set out in a series of statutory instruments, the most important of which are:

  1. •

    the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, SI 2014/2672

  2. •

    the

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Latest Local Government News

JCSI publishes thirty-fifth report of Session 2024–26

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DHSC announces Liberty Protection Safeguards consultation for first

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced a consultation on Liberty Protection Safeguards to be launched in the first half of 2026, jointly run with the Ministry of Justice. The consultation will seek views from families, carers and practitioners including social workers, nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists. Responses will inform a final Mental Capacity Act (2005) Code of Practice to be laid in Parliament. The revised Code of Practice will incorporate changes in case law, legislation, organisational structures, terminology and good practice since 2007, addressing challenges in the existing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards framework. The announcement comes as the Supreme Court reviews what constitutes deprivation of liberty in a case from Northern Ireland, with the UK government granted permission to intervene. The current system has a backlog of 123,790 individuals and the proposed Liberty Protection Safeguards aim to streamline processes, reduce intrusive assessments and focus on the most vulnerable people. The last consultation on this topic occurred in 2022 without resulting in changes.

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