23rd September 2014
Our reference: Jamie Feather
Your reference: FOI 7906
Frank Black
Dear Mr. Black
This is in response to your request for information, under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Question 1: Will monies transferred from the closure of the ILF to yourlocal authority be ring fenced to ILF recipients in your area? Ifno decision has yet been taken, what is the process and timescale for this happening?
Answer 1: When the monies transfer following the closure of the ILF to Newcastle City Council they will no longer be governed by ILF rules since the ILF Trust Deed will terminate. Therefore, the monies will instead be allocated according to the new national minimum eligibility threshold to be introduced as part of The Care Act 2014. There is no expectation at this stage from the Government that local authorities are expected to ring-fence the transferred monies.
Therefore, the Council can make no commitments that the ILF transfer monies will be ring-fenced to existing ILF recipients in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Any changes to ILF users support packages will be dealt with by a reassessment of need, which we anticipate will be completed by July 2015 in most cases. This timescale is subject to change as planning progresses.
Question 2:Please could you state the process and timescale for meeting with current ILF recipients to prepare personal care plans for 1st July 2015 onwards (bearing in mind the assessments at the Transfer Review visits only indicate desired outcomes and do not produce an actual care package).
Newcastle City Council has committed to working closely with the ILF in the Transfer Review process. As at July 2014 we have actively participated in 98.6% of the reviews for group 2 ILF users and 21.4% of group 1 ILF users. The lower performance in relation to group 1 results from anumber of reviews taking place during the period following the initial Court ruling when we were not invited to attend.
We have explained to all the people whose review we have attended that we will have to complete a reassessment of need in 2015. This will include group 1 people that give consent for us to contact them, some of whom may need to have an eligibility assessment for the first time.
We intend to communicate with existing ILF users through the (re)assessment and support planning process, and we will write to people at the appropriate time when we have a clear timetable for when this work will be commence.
As a result of our involvement in the ILF Transfer Review process we now have copies of ILF Support Plans for most of Newcastle’s ILF users. We will use these plans to inform the Council’s support plans from June 2015 onwards. We cannot commit to replicating the ILF Support Plan exactly but will give it due regard.
Question 3: Will you be making any special dispensation for allowing ILFusers to continue to employ their current & in many cases longstanding carers of many years, bearing in mind some may be paid ahigher rate than what LA's may usually advise and be familymembers too?
Anyone who was previously an ILF user who wishes to continue to employ personal assistants directly will be given advice and assistance on how they may continue to do so via a direct payment, provided they are eligible for social care funding after the reassessment of need. There is no immediate impediment to eligible people employing family members as personal assistants provided the arrangement is not prohibited by the Direct Payments Regulations that apply at that time. We are used to people working within a budget and making choices about the hourly rate that their personal assistants receive, and that this can vary according to each individual. However, we would not agree to honour hourly rates that are determined as unreasonably high following reassessment; in such cases we would explore with the eligible person what options they have under employment law and seek to support them to work within the budget available to them.
If you are unhappy with our response to your request you can ask for an internal review of our decision. Please send details of your request for review to the following address:
Corporate Information Governance Officer
Chief Executive’s Office
Civic Centre
Barras Bridge
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE99 2BN
Telephone: 0191 211 6644
E-mail:
If you are still unhappy with how we have handled your request following our internal review you can complain to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are as follows:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545745
E-mail:
Yours sincerely
By email
Jamie Feather
Lead Specialist Practitioner
If you need this information in another format or language please contact the person who sent it.