The Community Care (Joint Working etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2012

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Community Care (Joint Working etc.) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 (“the 2002 Regulations”) to specify new functions which may be delegated between NHS bodies and local authorities. The Regulations also make some adjustments to the accounting requirements for arrangements under sections 13 to 15 of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”).

Regulation 2 makes the following amendments to the 2002 Regulations:

(a) paragraphs (b) and (c) remove the necessity for a body to set up a system of monitoring and to provide audited accounts for payments under sections 13 or 14 of the 2002 Act;

(b) paragraph (f) sets out the requirements where a payment is being made by virtue of an arrangement under section 15(1)(b) of the 2002 Act where a pooled fund is not being established under section 15(1)(c) of that Act;

(c) paragraph (g) simplifies the requirements for a pooled fund established under section 15(1)(c) of the 2002 Act;

(d) paragraph (h) imposes a duty for the written agreement to include terms regarding the financial management of payments made under the arrangement and for the specification of a lead officer from each party to the arrangement who is responsible for ensuring the aims and outcomes of the arrangement are achieved;

(e) paragraphs (i) and (j) amend the titles to Schedules 2 and 3 to the 2002 Regulations to account for the insertion of the new Schedules. Schedules 2 and 3 of the 2002 Regulations previously prescribed functions for section 15(2) of the 2002 Act but those functions are now prescribed in the new Schedules inserted by these Regulations;

(f) paragraph (k) inserts the new Schedules 5 and 6 into the 2002 Regulations (which are now cross-referred to in regulations 4 and 5 of the 2002 Regulations by virtue of paragraphs (c) and (d)).

New Schedule 5 prescribes the functions of a local authority which may be delegated to an NHS body and also prescribes those functions which a local authority may use in conjunction with functions which have been delegated to an authority by an NHS body. Paragraph 1 of that Schedule sets out functions which may be used for both of those purposes and paragraph 2 sets out those which may only be used for the latter.

New Schedule 6 makes parallel provision for NHS bodies.