These Regulations specify the eligibility criteria for the purposes of Part 1 of the Care Act 2014 (“the Act”).

When an adult is found to have care and support needs following a needs assessment under section 9 of the Act (or in the case of a carer, support needs following a carer’s assessment under section 10), the local authority must determine whether those needs are at a level sufficient to meet the “eligibility criteria” under section 13 of the Act. Sections 18 and 20 of the Act set out the duty of local authorities to meet those of an adult’s needs for care and support and those of a carer’s needs for support which meet the eligibility criteria. The above mentioned duties apply only to local authorities in England.

Regulation 2 sets out the eligibility criteria for adults who need care and support, and regulation 3 sets out the eligibility criteria for carers who need support.

A separate impact assessment has not been prepared for these Regulations. These Regulations are part of a package of legislative measures and the relevant impact assessment can be requested via careactconsultation@dh.gsi.gov.uk or the Department of Health, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2NS and is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health.