In September 2021, the government announced changes to adult social care, due to start in October 2023.
As part of these changes, councils were asked to submit the following to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) by 14 October 2022:
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A cost of care exercise – this involved working with local care providers to understand the costs of delivering:
- residential and nursing care for people aged 65 and over
- home care for adults aged 18 and over
The aim was to find a fair and sustainable fee rate that reflects local costs, such as staff pay and travel time.
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A provisional market sustainability plan – this plan set out how the council would work towards sustainable care fees over the next three years (2022 to 2025). It also considered local needs and future care models, including housing.
We submitted both documents in October 2022.
What’s changed?
Since then, the government has delayed the planned adult social care reforms (including the care cost cap and changes to the means test) until at least October 2025. This delay affects one of the main reasons for the cost of care exercise – removing different fee rates for people who fund their own care.
Although the DHSC was originally going to review the documents before publication, councils are now required to publish their annex B reports without waiting for approval. These were published by 1 February 2023.
Annex B includes two reports:
- Care homes for older people
- Home care for adults aged 18 and over
Each report explains:
- How the cost of care exercises were carried out
- How care providers were involved
- The cost data collected (lower quartile, median, and upper quartile)
- How the final cost of care was calculated, including return on capital and operations
View the reports
- Cost of care report – care homes annex B
- Cost of care report – home care annex B
- Market sustainability plan annex C
If you have any questions, please contact adultscommissioning@hartlepool.gov.uk